Great Leaps of Faith
by I hart Booth
Summary: Sequel to A Night Made for the Living. For all who wanted a sequel to It Turned Blue...this is as close as it's gonna get sorry. BB with family, Futurefic...fluff with a dash of angst and a spritz of suspense
1. Just Breathe

_**This is for everyone who wanted a sequel to It Turned Blue. It's not, it's a sequel for Great Expectations, but all of you who wanted to see BB as parents, here ya go. For those of you who don't like future fics, that's cool...but I gotta say...this is a pretty good fic...lol.**_

---Monday---

Three years after that fateful day in the park, many things had changed for the squints.

Zack had taken the place of Brennan as the Lab's workaholic, often spending long hours poring over skeleton after skeleton from limbo or falling asleep over a recent case file. That's if he was even at the lab, he spent a good 50 of his time traversing the planet discovering weird and wonderful things about ancient and recent human remains.

Cam had taken an administrative position at the Jeffersonian's sister museum the Eddisonian and was rarely around. Goodman had also returned and was quite pleased with the camaraderie his scientists displayed, now more like family than friends or coworkers.

Hodgins and Angela had tied the knot long ago with a large, expensive wedding that Angela almost had more fun planning than executing. She and Hodgins were also parents to one adorable set of five-year-old fraternal twins, Melissa and Diego.

But there are some things that never change, namely the Dynamic Duo. Booth and Brennan who had yet to fail to solve a case and were still causing headaches for the murderous riff-raff of America. And while it was still their routine to spend long days in the field and in the lab, they now made it a habit to cut out before six and go home for the ever-important 'family time' with seven-year-old David and their three-year-old daughter, Madison.

On the sunny 16th day of June, the warmth outside was oppressive. The heat wave that hit DC had lingered, not humid, but definitely scorching hot. There hadn't been rain in weeks and the lab was seeing more action than usual in the medico-legal department, the arid climate advancing the decomp on many bodies that would usually go straight to the coroner.

Late in the morning two brilliant scientists bent far over one foul smelling set of bones.

"Spider pattern fractures on the ribs and sternum indicate the cause of death was excessive pressure on the torso. She was crushed to death."

"I concur, however these splinters in both ulnas, radius' and multiple phalanges could be signs of defensive wounds."

"Indicating she fought back, agree with that hypothesis Dr. Brennan."

Brennan nodded and made note of their most recent findings in the file and set it aside for Booth when he got there.

Zack picked up the skull and headed to his office so he could put flesh markers on it for Angela.

"Zack, have you seen Jack? I need the results of the mold we found."

"I think I last saw him heading to Angela's office."

Brennan thanked him and bent over to make a few more quick notes on her pad.

"Brennan! Sweetie get in here!" Angela's shrill voice suddenly rang out in the lab and Brennan looked up. That was not a happy squeal.

Throwing down her pad, Brennan bolted for Angela's office, still wearing her latex gloves.

"What? What is it Ange?" She asked, searching the office frantically for dark figures with guns or a box full of bloody organs. Instead she found Hodgins standing near Angela's desk wearing a look of pure disbelief, while Angela herself sat in the chair, staring at her plasma screen TV on the far wall.

"Look." She said quietly, using the remote to turn up the TV.

A well-dressed brunette sat behind the desk of Channel 8 News.

"…And now we'll return to Jonathan Wilcox on the scene. Jonathan?"

"Thank you Michelle. We're still only getting bits and pieces of information from the police, but as you can see here behind me…" The camera panned over to the chaos behind the reporter and Brennan gasped, bringing one gloved hand to her mouth, the other steadying her on the edge of Angela's desk.

"…they've not been able to get the flames under control as of right now. Again, if your only just tuning in, a bomb went off at FBI headquarters today at about eleven AM. We've yet to receive word on dead or wounded, but we have been told that there were in fact a number of agents inside at the time of the explosion and so far, no one has been recovered. We will keep you updated as information arises. Back to you Michelle."

Angela put the TV back on mute and got up to go to her friend. Brennan was leaning against her desk, one hand supporting her whole weight and one covering her mouth, her face almost the same color as her latex glove.

"Brennan?"

"Is…is Booth…"

"I don't know Sweetie. You should call him. He was coming to meet you guys for lunch right? Maybe he was already out when it happened." Angela laid a comforting hand on Brennan's shoulder as she attempted to compose herself.

"Yeah. That…that's logical. I'll call him." She reached into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone, but didn't get a chance to dial before a weight suddenly slammed into her legs and she stumbled forward.

"Hi Mommy!"

Brennan looked down and straight into the bright blue eyes of Madison Booth.

**_So...want more? C'mon...tell Harty you want more..._**


	2. To hear your voice

**_Glad everyone is enjoying this. Thanks for giving it a chance! ;P _**

---Monday---

Brennan smiled slightly at Madison and stroked her dark hair for a moment, the innocence in her daughter's eyes pained her, almost more than the news report.

"Sorry about that Dr. Brennan, she slipped away from me." A college-age girl with brown hair pulled into a messy bun and a gray pullover sweatshirt stepped up to Angela's door.

Brennan shook her head. "It's fine Jackie." Then looking at her phone, added, "Could you hang on for just a minute?"

"Sure Dr. B."

"Thank you. Sonny, why don't you show Jackie Mommy's office?"

"Okay." Madison dashed away from her mother's legs and grabbed the girl's hand. "Mommy's othifice got lotsa…um…lotsa stuff! I'll show you, c'mon!" She enthusiastically pulled Jackie away from the door.

Most people called Madison 'Sonny' for short, it especially fit because the little girl was like a ray of sunshine to anyone who met her. The only person to call her otherwise was her father, Booth called her Princess. That explained the never ending supply of pink clothes and the plastic tiara perpetually glued to Madison's head. No matter how unruly her auburn mob became, Madison Booth never let her tiara slip.

"I see she dressed herself today, very self expressive." Angela said, as the little girl disappeared from sight. Madison had her long hair down in an unruly mess, indicative of her active nature, a bright green t-shirt with a frog on it, a pink tutu, blue sandals with sparkly butterflies on the sides, and of course, her tiara. "I'm so proud."

Brennan didn't hear a word Angela said, the phone was at her ear as she eagerly anticipated the sound of Booth's voice.

"Bones?"

Brennan gasped and closed her eyes. "Booth. Are you okay? Where are you? Were you in there? What happened?" She rattled off all her questions in one breath.

"Whoa...calm down Babe." Booth winced as the paramedic he'd shushed moments before finished wrapping a second-degree burn on his forearm, "I'm fine, a little singed around the edges but I'll be okay. Look, I want you to have someone pick up Sonny, David and Parker from school."

"Sonny is already here, why? We aren't still going out to lunch are we?" Brennan began pacing restlessly, the chaos she could hear on Booth's end unnerved her.

"No, probably not…but I need to know they're safe."

Brennan stopped moving and looked at the television, the burning inferno of FBI headquarters filled the screen.

"Why wouldn't they be safe Booth?" He hesitated so she pressed him. "Booth?"

"Just…get them to the lab with you, okay? I'm going to be here for a while longer."

"Why? Why are you going to be there longer? Booth what's going on?" Her voice rose with her anxiety and Angela touched her arm, wanting her to calm down.

"Look, Bones, the firefighters are having a tough time navigating the building, there's a lot of people unaccounted for and this fire is spreading fast. They need help getting people out."

"Booth! Do not go in that building!"

"Temperance..."

"Seeley!"

"They don't have enough man-power to search the entire building because fires have been breaking out all over the city due to the heat. They need help, I'm not badly injured and I was a volunteer firefighter a while back so…"

"Booth that was years ago! Please…don't do this." Brennan was near tears, they kept flashing the building on the TV screen and every now and then the picture of an agent strapped to a gurney would be shown being loaded into an ambulance.

"I have to Temperance."

"No you don't! You have such a hero-complex Seeley! Let it go. Let the firemen do their jobs."

Booth was quiet for a moment and the sound of muffled sirens and shouting filled her ear before he spoke.

"They're my friends Temperance. Fellow agents. If something happens to them and I know I didn't do anything to help when I could have…I'll blame myself forever."

She closed her eyes, she knew that was true. Sighing, she finally agreed.

"Just get David and Parker, please. I'll call you back as soon as I can."

Brennan opened her eyes again. "Booth!"

"What?"

"Just…be careful okay?"

She could hear his smile through the phone.

"I love you too."

The sound of a dial tone finally brought an end to the chaos in her ear, but not her head.

"Sweetie what's happening?" Angela searched Brennan's eyes with concern, she'd sounded pretty panicked a moment ago. "Is Booth okay?"

Brennan nodded, still clutching her phone.

"He's fine, except that he's nuts and I'm going to kill him."

She ignored Anglea's puzzled look and grabbed the remote, turning the sound back on the TV.

"…the roads are closed off for blocks in several directions because the FBI is under the impression there may be more bombs. No word yet as to who orchestrated this attack or what they're intentions are. Again if you're just tuning in…"

Brennan muted the TV and ran to the door.

"Jackie!"

The girl appeared from around the corner of Brennan's office, a giggling Madison on her back.

"Horsey! Horsey!" The child chanted. "Look Aunty Angela, I'm a cowgirl!"

From behind Brennan, Angela nodded warmly at the delighted Madison.

"Jackie." Brennan walked over hurriedly. "Would it be possible for you to go to Rummsfeld Elementary on Fullerton and pick up David and then over to Central Middle and pick up Parker? I'll cover gas and pay you double what we usually do."

Jackie's smile faltered, "Well, I don't know Dr. Brennan, I got class in half an hour…"

"I'll call your professor, have him pardon you."

Jackie brightened, "You'll call my Anatomy prof? He loves you Dr. B. Seriously you'd do that?"

Brennan smiled at the girls' enthusiasm. "Yes. I will, just please hurry."

Jackie nodded and slid Madison off her back before bolting for the door.

"What was that all about?" Angela asked, scooping Madison up into her arms and bouncing her on her hip.

Brennan took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves, she was so on edge she could feel her blood pumping through her veins.

"You heard what they said Angela," She began, turning toward her, "There might be more bombs. Seeley thought it best we get the boys out of school and to the lab, he thinks they're safer here and I quite agree with him. In my experience it's never a good thing to have the surname 'Booth' when explosives are involved."

With that Brennan took Madison from Angela and headed back toward her office, hoping to distract herself with work until the boys got there.

_Booth…you better know what you're doing._

**_Sorry, still no end to the cliffee...not for a while. But there is fluff on the way if that tickles your fancy. ;P_**


	3. Family a la BB

----Friday---

Brennan put down her camera and carefully stepped around the skeleton at her feet without taking her eyes of the spot where she'd seen him.

In one swift movement she pulled herself out of the shallow grave and took off running.

"Bones!" Booth saw his partner suddenly take off toward the street and ran after her.

Brennan didn't hear him calling to her, just kept running. She knew she'd seen him. She hadn't imagined it.

Booth caught her elbow just barely before she ran out into the busy street and pulled her tight against him.

"What the hell Bones?" He pulled back to look at her, but she wouldn't meet his gaze.

Effectively ignoring Booth, Brennan searched the other side of the street for her father. She didn't see him. Her blue eyes roamed up and down the street trying to catch any glimpse of Max Keenan, but to no avail.

He had disappeared. Again.

"Temperance, were you thinking? Are you alright?" Booth tried to grab her other shoulder and make her look at him but she wrenched herself out of his grasp and stepped back.

"I-I'm fine Seeley. I just…" She took another sweeping look around her before bringing her eyes back to her husband. "I just thought I saw something. I was mistaken." She turned and walked determinedly back to the crime scene. Booth watched her go, hands on his hips.

He'd seen the look that passed over her eyes when she looked at him. The sadness that had briefly invaded them was only upstaged by the way she'd looked a few months ago when she'd received a congratulatory anniversary card from Russ and Max.

The two men had been on the run for several years now, but still managed to stick their noses into Brennan's life just often enough to keep her off balance. He was glad they still cared for her…but he hated the way their attention made her feel. Too often after some contact from her father and brother, Brennan would withdraw back into herself, trying to sort things through on her own. She would be like this for days and it killed Booth each and every time.

While Booth knew this was something she had to do herself, it still angered him that she had a demon he couldn't quite capture and kill for her. A dragon he couldn't slay.

He tried to talk about it with her when they were doing that undercover job a few weeks back, but she just continued to blow him off.

Booth smiled at the thought of that undercover job. He and Bones really liked doing those things, but it was too hard being away from Sonny and David for that long. It was hard on the kids too.

"Seeley!" Brennan called from behind the crime tape. "Let's go! I need to get back to the lab before the remains do." She waved him over, hoping he hadn't been thinking about her, although she knew he had been.

_Stupid Temperance. Why did you have to take off like that? Of course he's worried about you now._

She was right. He was worried about her, and the subsequent events that would follow in the next few days would not do anything to ease his mind.

"Bones," Booth began slowly, "It's already five-thirty. The kids will be home soon, why don't we just call it a day?"

Brennan shook her head and continued to stare out the window of the SUV.

"No Booth those remains need to be processed asap."

"C'mon Babe, Zack's in town, he's got his assistant and yours. Assistants are there so you don't have to be. Let's just go home."

Brennan avoided looking at him, fearing the pleading look he was surely giving her would be too much to bear. Unfortunately, she could feel it poring into her skin and after a few moments she relented and pulled out her cell phone.

"Addy."

"Zack, Booth and I are done for the day, we've sent over a set of remains from the crime scene. They need to be processed asap if it's not too much trouble…"

"That's fine Dr. Brennan, I was going to stay late and authenticate this Renaissance era skeleton anyway, I can have Charlotte and Greg help me."

"Thanks Zack."

She hung up and glared at Booth.

"Happy now?"

"Yes." Booth said smugly, drumming his fingers in time to the rock station on the radio.

Silence fell between them again and Booth could tell something was still bothering her.

Reaching across toward her, he squeezed the ticklish spot just above her knee, earning a slight smile from Brennan.

"Talk to me Bones." He coaxed.

Brennan sighed deeply and turned to him.

"I saw him Booth. He was there."

Booth's face darkened and he returned both hands to the steering wheel.

"Your father." It was a statement instead of a question and Brennan was puzzled.

"How'd you know?"

He glanced at her and pursed his lips.

"When your father shows up…you get this look in your eyes, you pull away and go to a place where I can't get to you."

Brennan frowned.

"I did not pull away." She said indignantly.

"Oh really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, "Then the way you wiggled away from me at the scene, rushed ahead of me to the car and haven't spoken a word this entire time, I imagined all that then?"

Brennan started to say something and then shut her mouth with a click of her teeth.

"I did do that…didn't I?"

Booth nodded and they pulled up into a parking spot in front of their apartment building.

"I'm sorry." She said softly, wondering if he was mad at her.

Booth slipped off his sunglasses and leaned in toward her.

"You don't have to apologize, I understand…I just don't like it. I don't like that he hurts you and I don't like what that makes you do, but I'm not mad at you."

Brennan smiled slowly, his breath tickling her lips and she leaned forward a fraction of an inch.

"That's very rational Booth."

Booth returned her smile.

"I'll try not to take offence to that."

Before she could defend her self and the idea of 'rationality' Booth slipped his hand around behind her neck and pulled her to him, their lips connected and a familiar electricity pumped through them.

Brennan was immediately enthralled and moved to deepen the kiss, tugging at Booth's tie in frustration while he searched for the hem of her shirt.

The sound of loud squeaky breaks and a diesel engine brought them out of their trance. Booth opened one eye and saw a big yellow school bus pulled up across the street, red lights flashed to indicate that a child was emerging.

Brennan groaned as Booth pulled away and smoothed her hair before getting out of the car.

"Whatever happened to those two partners that could hardly make it from one room to the next without a little…" she glanced again at the school bus as she stood alongside Booth in front of the SUV, "…intimacy?"

Booth chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple.

"They had kids Bones."

"Oh…why'd they do that?" She said, trying to sound disappointed, but couldn't really pull it off as a shaggy-haired seven-year-old came running toward them. David had his jacket in one hand, a colorful piece of paper in the other and his backpack hanging open, flopping around behind him. The boy jumped on his father, who groaned to get his wind back.

"Cause they're just so gosh darned cute?" He asked breathlessly and wincing.

"Yeah," Brennan laughed and gave David a hug 'hello', "that must be it."

"Hi mom! Hi dad! Guess what!" David bounced alongside his parents as they went toward the doors.

"What is it buddy?" Booth smiled and took the salmon-colored paper David was shaking in his face.

"Mrs. Dastoli is takin' our class on a field trip!" David shouted, pumping his fists in the air as he ran up the stairs to their apartment. "You gotta sign that paper so I can go. We're gonna go to Mom's work, the Jeffersonian! It's gonna be so cool!"

"Salim, you're shouting." Brennan gave him a warning glare.

David colored up. "Sorry mom." He whispered sheepishly, before flashing the charm smile.

"What's so special about that? You go there all the time." Booth scanned the form half-heartedly.

"Yeah, but this time it'll be with my friends dad."

Brennan reached for her keys and smoothed David's curls. Unlike Parker, David hadn't grown out of his twisted locks and he wore them proudly. Madison had her mother's hair, it was only wavy after her bath.

"You need a haircut David." She commented as she pushed open the door. At hearing this, David clasped his hands over his head and ran to his room.

"No! I won't let you!"

"David! Lower your voice! We have neighbors!" Brennan called through the apartment. She felt Booth slip an arm around her waist and kiss her on the cheek.

"You do realize your yelling too…right?"

Brennan sighed and shook her head in frustration and Booth handed her David's permission slip.

"Your turn to sign."

Brennan rolled her eyes and turned Booth around so she could use his back for writing on.

"Daddy! Mommy!" The sound of small feet came pounding down the hallway just as Brennan finished signing her name across the bottom of David's permission slip.

They both looked down the hall and saw little Madison in a jean shorts and a purple shirt that read 'Daddy's Girl' across the front in rhinestone lettering running at them full speed.

"Hey Princess!" Booth grinned and snatched his daughter off the ground, twirling her in the air so she giggled.

Brennan bent to pick up Madison's tiara, which had become dislodged when Booth was twirling her.

"What am I? Chopped steak?" She said in mock offence, placing the plastic crown back on the little girl's head.

"No mommy you not steak." Madison leaned from her father's arms and gripped both sides of Brennan's face and planted a wet kiss on her nose while Booth mumbled something about 'liver'.

"See? I love you Mommy."

Brennan grinned and kissed Madison's forehead.

"Love you too baby."

"Hey Mr and Mrs. B." Jackie emerged from the bathroom, wiping her hands on her jeans, her face freshly washed. "Sonny and I were playing 'makeup artist' and I had to clean up before coming out. I was pretty scary."

Booth gasped and looked wide-eyed at Madison.

"Did you put makeup on Jackie, Princess?"

"Uh-huh."

"Did she look pretty?"

The little girl shrugged and giggled. "Uh-uh. I made her green!"

"You made her green?" He asked in that high-pitched voice parent's use when humoring their children.

"Yeah! And her lips was wed!"

"Red lips too?" Booth attempted to shrug out of his jacket while holding Madison on his hip and Brennan moved to help.

"Actually Sonny, red is a normal color for lips." She said in all seriousness.

Booth turned to say something to her when Brennan stood on her tippy-toes and smirked over his shoulder at her daughter.

"Next time make them black!"

Madison dissolved in giggles and Booth smiled at his wife warmly. Sometimes he forgot how good she was at all this stuff.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow then." Jackie moved around the spacious apartment gathering her things. "Bye Sonny."

Sonny waved and Booth took her to the kitchen to help him start dinner while Brennan paid the sitter.

"Thanks again Jackie, we'll see you tomorrow."

Brennan waved as the girl disappeared from sight down the stairs at the end of the hall.

A low rolling chuckle followed by a high-pitched squeal emanated through the apartment. Brennan shook her head and headed for the kitchen.

_I swear that girl has a little bit of Angela in her._ She thought, smiling.

In the kitchen Brennan found little Madison seated on the counter while her father mixed things in a bowl.

"Unh!" Madison tipped her head back and opened her mouth, making herself look just like a baby bird.

Obediently Booth produced an aerosol can of whipped cream from his side and sprayed her mouth full. Just as Madison took the can to do the same to Booth, it was snatched from her hand.

Booth jumped at the sight of his wife beside him.

"Ummm…"

"Save it." She glared at them both, but mostly at Booth, or as she called him, 'the bad influence'.

"You two know the rule about dessert before dinner."

"Sorry mom." They responded in unison, putting on their best sorrowful faces, Madison's genuine, Booth's teasing.

Brennan kissed her daughter on the head.

"It's all right sweetie."

Then, turning to Booth, "And as for you. _We_ will talk later."

Booth grinned, still sensing a hint of playfulness in her.

"What are you gonna do?" He asked, his voice low as he turned his whole body toward her and stepped closer.

Brennan caught the desire lacing his voice and couldn't help but smile.

"Oh…you'll see." She leaned over to kiss him, but didn't quite make it before a loud groan rang out from the back of the apartment.

"Mom! I need your help. This homework is _so_ hard!"

Brennan sighed and let her forehead fall against Booth's. He pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Go ahead, the Princess and I will finish up here."

Brennan nodded and turned toward the back of the apartment.

"I'm coming David!"

**_Oh yay! Family a la Booth. lol. Tell me what you thought!_**


	4. Just when we thought it was safe

**Are the alerts down? I think the alerts are down. Stupid stupid fugly alerts. **

---Friday cont'd---

"Dinner's ready!" Booth's voice resounded through the apartment and made Brennan cringe.

"Booth stop yelling!"

"Mom, you're yelling." David said quietly from Brennan's side. They were both hunched far over his desk while working tirelessly on David's math homework.

Brennan groaned and rubbed her face.

"We are _so_ getting evicted." She grumbled as she followed her son down the hall to the dining room.

"Mommy! Guess what Daddynme made fer din din." Madison bounced happily in her booster seat while Booth went for two beers from the refrigerator.

Brennan looked at the table where the makings for Sloppy Joes were quite obviously set out.

"Ummmm…frog legs?" Brennan made her best puzzled face at her daughter and sat down in her assigned seat at their square table. Madison on her left side, Booth on her right and David directly across.

Madison made a face and told her mother that was 'gwoss' while David surveyed the table and expressed his pleasure at what he saw.

"Sloppy Joes? Oh YES! I love Sloppy Joes!" David sat down and held out his plate to be served and Madison immediately imitated him, puppy dog eyes and all.

Brennan smiled and shook her head before placing two heaping portions of Sloppy Joes and carrot sticks on their plates.

"I don't like carrots mom." David whined, his missing front teeth giving him a the smallest hint of a lisp. He frowned at the abhorrent orange vegetable on his plate.

"Yeah Mommy me eiver." Madison shook her head gravely and watched for what David would do next.

Booth, who had returned from the kitchen and was settling in at the table, was constantly amazed at how like her mother Madison looked when she was studying David like that. His little Princess worshipped her brother and often watched him with such intensity Booth had only seen it matched in one other woman. He was glad Madison's subject of study was much more alive than any of Brennan's.

"You've got to eat your vegetables, you know why?" Booth asked, nonchalantly loading his sandwich full of the messy filling and topping it with onions.

"No."

"No."

"Because, they put hair on your chest." Booth smiled at his children. David looked contemplative. Madison had already begun discretely nibbling her carrots, they were her favorite after all…but then, Brennan and Booth already knew that.

Brennan furrowed her brows at her husband. She didn't much like the idea of lying to David, but if it got him to eat is carrots, she would keep quiet.

"Really?" David raised one eyebrow and eyed the offending food suspiciously.

Booth shrugged. "You won't know unless you try it."

David paused for a moment longer, then shrugged and began stuffing as many carrots as possible into his mouth.

"Salim what are you doing?" Brennan exclaimed, almost leaping out of her chair to stop him, but Booth stayed her with his hand. "You'll choke yourself."

"Mmohiee woont amiff I chmwfem alliwonff itseshier." David tried to explain with a mouthful of carrots.

"David don't talk with your mouthful."

"Chew and swallow. What did you say?"

David made a show of swallowing and took a long drink of water, gasping for air at the exertion.

"I sa-aid." He drug out, "No I won't and if I chew 'em all at once it's easier." He scrunched up his face, "I don't have to taste 'em as long."

"Help Help." A small voice pleaded and Booth and Brennan looked over to find Madison's face, hands, shirt and placemat covered in Sloppy Joeness.

Booth held back a fit of laughter, pressing his napkin to his mouth.

"You're one messy princess Sonny." David giggled and exchanged amused glances with his father.

Madison had her hands stretched out in front of her, the look of distress was plain and it was obvious that she wanted nothing more than to be rid of this warm, sticky mess.

Brennan calmly surveyed the situation.

"Are you done?"

Madison nodded her head emphatically.

"All done." She told them, to be sure they knew she was quite finished with this mess and quite ready to be rid of it.

Brennan nodded. "Time for your bath then." She put down her half-eaten sandwich and began carefully extracting Madison from her chair, trying to avoid speading the mess any further. She started down the hall and then glanced back at David, who had his sandwich effectively covering his mouth, cheeks and hands.

"Your getting your bath too when Sonny's is done so hurry up."

David nodded and continued to eat.

"Know why I like Sloppy Joes dad?" He asked when the bathroom door shut.

"No, son, why?"

"Cuz…I can make as big a mess as I want!" David grinned a toothless grin and Booth ruffled his hair playfully.

"That's why I like them too." He winked and took a huge bite of the messy sandwich, allowing the meat to trail down his chin. David laughed so hard he couldn't breathe.

"Dad!" David shook his head in amusement.

"So how was school?" Booth asked, wiping his face after David calmed down a little.

"It was mostly boring but Jason and Mikey had a fight over who could play with the basketball next out on the playground and my teacher had to…"

-----------------------------

Two hours later the kids were done with their baths and settled into the couch watching their favorite movie…for the fifteenth time that week. Madison dozed slightly in her mother's arms on the overstuffed green couch while David was spread out on the floor his eyes glazed as he repeatedly dunked a small hand into the popcorn bowl searching for something besides kernels.

"Alright…it's that time." Booth stretched his large arms over his head, relieved the credits were finally beginning to roll. He looked over at Brennan beside him.

He was exhausted after a full days work on a case both of them would rather forget, but there was something about her tonight he was finding hard to ignore.

Brennan sat forward slightly, shifting Madison in her arms and her coppery hair fell down around her face. Her black top moved just slightly under the little girl's weight, exposing the creamy flesh of her shoulder.

Booth watched her look up at him, her eyes the most impossible shade of blue-green and he reminded himself to breathe and take note of what she was saying.

"What is it Seeley?"

He half-smiled. "Nothing, just…nothing." Then, directing his attention to David, who was remaining conspicuously quiet.

"David, c'mon buddy, bedtime."

David groaned loudly, he'd hoped they'd get caught up doing something and forget he was there.

"C'mon dad…five more minutes?"

Booth frowned at his son and David knew the glare he was receiving was one that meant it was best he not argue.

"Alright alright I'm going." He muttered, raising to his feet and sulking to the bedroom, which he and Sonny shared.

Just as Brennan moved to stand there was a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" Brennan glanced at the large Roman numeral clock on the wall, it was nine at night.

"I'll go see. Go on ahead, I'll be in in a minute." Booth moved to the door as Brennan turned to go down the hall.

Peeking through the peephole Booth didn't see anything so he carefully opened the door, his senses on high alert. On the floor was a plain white envelope.

Booth picked it up, half expecting to find 'Temperance' written across the front. It would be very like her father to leave her a note like that.

But when he turned it over, he was surprised to find no name or markings of any kind. After giving it a thorough inspection from the outside and finding nothing out of the ordinary, Booth gently pulled open the envelope and slid out three sheets of paper.

He gasped softly.

The fist paper was a glossy black & white photo of little Madison, her head bent low as she used chalk to draw on the sidewalk in front of their building, Jackie sitting a few feet behind her on the steps. From the blurry quality of the photo Booth could tell it was taken from a distance, but it sent shivers up his spine, his famous gut doing flip-flops.

Moving to the next photo he shouldn't have been surprised to find David staring at him. Another glossy black & white showed his son sitting on the grass at school in a circle with the other students reading aloud for the teacher. Again, Booth could tell it had been taken from a bit of a distance, but the faces, at least the one that mattered, was clear as a bell.

Booth moved to the next sheet and felt his blood pressure shoot through the roof as his heart slammed into his rib cage. On a crumpled piece of white paper a single sentence mocked him.

**Do you know where your children are?**

Booth gritted his teeth and was about to call out their names when two high-pitched giggles echoed in the apartment, releasing some of his tension. Some.

"Seeley!" Brennan called, cursing herself for breaking her own rule about yelling, "Are you coming? The kids want you to read them a story."

Booth took a deep breath and counted to ten before carefully sliding the papers back in the envelope and putting it in a plastic bag from the kitchen.

"Yeah, here I come."

-------------------------------------

Booth sat on the right side of David's bed; Madison curled up in his lap. Next to him Brennan had both legs crossed in front of her at the ankles, David leaning back into her and looking lazily at the book in Booth's hands.

"The end." Booth said quietly, putting the book on the side table. Madison had long since fallen asleep but David rubbed his eyes, still fighting.

"Mom?" David slid down under his covers as his parents vacated his bed.

"Yes Salim?" Brennan pushed some of his curls off his forehead and kissed it.

"Can I have my own room?" His voice was thick with sleep and his eyes closed, asking mostly out of habit. He asked almost every night, often complaining of 'Sonny's snoring'.

"We'll see." Brennan turned off his bedside lamp and waited in the doorway for Booth to put Madison down.

Booth leaned far over and placed the little girl in bed, her face, usually so animated, was completely peaceful when she slept. It amazed him at how much she looked like Temperance when she was asleep.

Carefully, Booth removed her plastic tiara and placed it on the bedside table before he pulled her blankets in tight around her. He stared at her for a moment, waiting to see her breathe in the pale yellow glow from the night-light in the corner.

When she did he smiled and leaned over, pressing his lips tenderly to her forehead and whispering, "Goodnight Princess."

_I promise to keep you safe._

Then, without another word straightened, silently kissed David on the forehead, and found Brennan's hand as he pulled their bedroom door partly shut.

_Both of you._

Once in their bedroom Brennan and Booth quietly went through their routine, taking turns in the bathroom, changing clothes but hardly speaking, both in deep thought.

Booth's mind whirled with the note he'd just received, trying to decide what to do and whether or not to tell Brennan. He knew he should, but when he turned and saw her sitting under the covers, propped up against the headboard with pensive crease in her brow, he couldn't bring himself to do it. She was already worked up over this case, a case she felt personally, maybe too personally.

But who could blame her? Foster parents weren't supposed to do that kind of thing, and the fact that they had…while it made Booth nauseous, it made Brennan sick.

"Hey, you all right?" he asked, gently settling in beside her. He took her hand and laced his fingers with it. She smiled over at him.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." To prove it she leaned over to kiss him…and the memory of earlier in the SUV came flooding back.

Without hesitation Booth pushed his hands up into her hair and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss to such a level he wouldn't have been able to stand if he wanted to. Brennan grinned and pulled away, leaving a confused Booth to watch as she quickly slid from the bed, shut the door and slid back in. Only this time, instead of sitting beside him, she sat over his thighs and smiled down at him.

"The kids are asleep you know." She told him, trailing hot kisses down his jaw and neck.

"Oh…believe me…I know." Booth ground out, before bringing her face back up so he could have his way with her lips, desire overtaking him easily.

After a moment, clothes started flying and a single trembling hand broke free of the madness and quickly turned out the bedroom light.

**Please R&R...we've got a looong way to go. **


	5. Family Picnic

**Hope everyone enjoyed their Bonesday! It was a rerun here, but I'll live. Bones is Bones. **

---Saturday---

Dawn rose on the Booth/Brennan apartment building, illuminating one boldly painted tidy bedroom with various pieces of clothing strewn about on the furniture and floor.

They were snuggled in the middle of the bed, Booth propped up on a few pillows with one arm wrapped around his wife. Brennan wore one of Booth's Army shirts, her messy hair splayed out across his chest as they waited for the inevitable knock that announced the children were up.

The comfortable silence was only broken when Booth groaned softly. While one of his hands was occupied twirling a lock of auburn hair, the other had been captured by the scientist as she repeatedly kissed his palm and fingertips, occasionally sucking one into her mouth and causing Booth's body to tense with arousal. Brennan smiled at the power she held over him.

Finally Booth couldn't take the teasing anymore and in one swift motion he flipped her over, easily encompassing her with his body as he devoured her lips and neck.

"Seeley." Brennan said breathlessly, surprised at how long he'd lasted. "The kids…"

Booth pulled back and propped himself up on his elbows, giving her a serious look.

"You shouldn't start what you don't intend to finish, Temperance."

Brennan blinked at how serious he'd become and simply nodded. Booth smiled ever so slightly and before she knew it, he was on her again.

Barely ten minutes later, enough time for Booth to be thoroughly irritated at the interruption, there was a knock at the door.

"Mom? Dad?" David called, his hand poised over the doorknob, waiting for permission to enter.

"What is it David?" Brennan voice was unusually high pitched as she bit back a cry of pleasure at the way Booth nibbled on her earlobe.

"Aren't we going to the park with Aunt Angela and Uncle Jack and the twins today?"

Booth froze, remembering the conversation that led to those arrangements.

Angela and Brennan's conversation.

He moved to meet her eyes, a frown clearly set on his jaw and Brennan gave him an apologetic look. Shaking his head, Booth groaned and rolled off his wife so she could fix her shirt.

"C'mon in guys." Brennan said, sitting up.

Seconds later the bed bounced as David and Madison jumped up onto it. David's blue fire-truck pajamas extended only to his wrists and ankles, indicating he'd already grown out of them.

"Well, are we?" David asked, giving her the trademark smile. Brennan nodded, ruffling his hair as he rolled off the bed, whooping and hollering to announce the fact that he was pleased with that answer.

Madison clutched a plush brown bear and plopped herself and her pink and white heart pajamas on her father's stomach.

"Mommy why is you face all wed?" She asked innocently, blue eyes as big as saucers.

"Well…um…" Brennan touched her cheeks, trying to cover their color and only succeeding to make herself blush deeper.

"Does Daddy's head huwt?" Madison gave her father a concerned look.

Booth had both his fists pressing against his eye sockets and kept taking deep breaths, attempting to calm himself. For some reason picturing his mother in a bathing suit was simply not a strong enough image to clear out other things he shouldn't have been thinking about with his son and daughter in the room.

"Well Sonny he's just…frustrated." Brennan said carefully.

Suddenly Booth sat up, gripping Madison firmly and putting her aside.

"That's it. I'm taking a shower." He threw the covers off himself and hurried to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Brennan gave the door a sympathetic glance before turning her attention back to the kids.

"You guys want pancakes for breakfast? We're meeting Aunt Ange and Uncle Jack at one but we can have pancakes first if you want."

"Pancakes! Pancakes!"

"Hey! Stop yel…"

Brennan sighed and followed the screaming children out into the kitchen.

_Why do I even bother?_

------------------------------

Angela and Hodgins were already waiting when the Booth-Brennan clan showed up, or B Dub, as Angela had been known to call them.

"Hey sweetie!" Angela hugged Brennan before turning to the kids.

"Sonny! What are you today?"

"I'm a faiwy Pwincess!" Madison shouted excitedly, twirling so her Aunt could get a better look at what she wore. Pink Tinkerbelle light up tennis-shoes encompassing boldly striped green and pink tights under a jean skirt, a pink t-shirt with the letters FBI done in sparkles, a present from Angela herself, and for an added touch, a pair of big lavender fairy wings left over from Halloween last year. And of course, one perfect plastic tiara.

"That you are." Angela grinned, scooping Madison up into a hug and giving David a kiss on the cheek, which he promptly wiped off.

"Ewww Aunt Angela! Cooties."

Hodgins greeted his friends and pointed them in the direction of a blanket spread out in the grass under the shade of a Maple tree.

"Damn Hodgins, I thought you guys already ate." Booth gave an incredulous look to the large picnic basket to one side of the blanket.

"We brought snacks and water for later, ours are in a growth spurt right now, they eat every couple hours." Jack rolled his eyes at the amount of food he'd been buying for Melissa and Diego recently.

"Okay, we're gonna take the kids over and get settled, be right back." Brennan told them, ready to follow Angela to the jungle gym where the twins were enthralled by an abnormally large anthill. But before turning away, she grabbed Booth's head, pulling him down into a passionate kiss that he was both surprised and delighted by.

She pulled back, looking straight into his eyes.

"I'm sorry about this morning. I'll make it up to you." She told him quietly, before placing another quick peck on his lips and leaving after Angela.

Booth turned, his ears slightly red as he met Hodgins' knowing grin.

"Dude, what was that?"

"Uh…" Booth ran a hand over his face. "Lets just say our kids have the worst timing since your wife." Booth settled down on the blanket beside Hodgins.

"Man, tell me about it. I swear mine have a sixth sense. It's like they can hear me getting turned on from the other side of the house and they go 'Hey, sounds like Dad's about to get some, lets go show them this specimen of Dendroctonus frontalis. I'll bet he's never seen that before!'" Hodgins shook his head and sipped a bottle of water while Booth stared at him blankly.

"Oh…common insect, the Southern Pine Beetle. Nothing kills the mood like a beetle half squished between a five-year-olds' chubby fingers."

Hodgins' laughed and after a moment, Booth joined him, watching as Madison bent far over a spot on the ground the other three kids were studying intently. Suddenly, Diego sat up, thrusting something into the littlest girls' face. Screaming, Madison jumped back, and then forward again to punch Diego in the arm. The little boy fell backwards in the sand.

"Whoa! Fairy Princess? Warrior Princess is more like it."

Booth chuckled. "Don't I know it? She gets more and more like Temperance everyday."

"I hear that." Hodgins said, smiling, "The other day I walked into the nursery, found Melissa finger painting the windows and Diego was the color of Superman ice-cream."

The men watched for a moment as Angela disciplined Diego for scaring Madison, and Brennan tried to keep a straight face while scolding her daughter for hitting.

Booth cleared his throat.

"Listen Jack, I need to ask you a favor."

Hodgins heard the tone of the conversation turn serious and directed his attention to Booth.

"What is it?"

Booth sighed and pulled the plastic baggie out of his back pocket.

"This came to the house yesterday, I need to know if you can get anything from it."

He handed the bag over to Hodgins, who miraculously produced latex gloves from his own pocket.

"What is it with you people and always being ready to dig through bones?" Booth scoffed, he knew for a fact Brennan carried latex gloves, swabs and plastic evidence bags in her purse.

"It's called being prepared. Which I see you're not very adept at." Hodgins raised an eyebrow and pointed at the 'Ziplock' logo on the bag Booth had handed him.

"I was in a hurry alright?" He mumbled, grabbing himself a bottle of water and watching as Brennan and Angela pushed the girls on the swings and the boys raced up the slide.

"Dude…" Hodgins looked up, wide-eyed as he finished going through the contents of the envelope. "Does Brennan know?"

Booth shook his head. "Not yet."

"Booth you've got to tell her. She'll kick your ass…"

"I know I know, I would have told her last night but…with the case and all…I couldn't bring myself to put one more thing on her shoulders. I will though and for now," He gestured toward the street where two black town cars were parked inconspicuously along the street next to Hodgins' 'family car' Bentley, and Booth's SUV. "they're okay. I've got an agent on both of them at all times until I can figure out who sent this. Which is where you come in."

Hodgins nodded, carefully placing the photos and paper back in the baggie.

"Angela and I were going to go into the lab today anyway, I'll run a few tests while we're there and I should have the results tomorrow or Monday."

Booth clapped a hand on Hodgins' shoulder and squeezed ever so slightly as the kids and their mothers came running across the field toward them.

"Thanks man. I owe you one."

"Not even Booth. You saved my life, remember?" Hodgins replied, slipping the baggie into his own pocket. "Of course, you could pay me back for that perfume I spent three large on and ended up wasting."

"I wouldn't call using it to save your life wasting it…besides, was I the one who made you go out into that parking garage? I think not."

Booth smiled as Madison jumped into his lap.

Hodgins just shook his head and turned his attention to the twins, who were helping themselves to various fruits and snacks in the picnic basket while Angela and Brennan settled on the blanket.

"So what were you two talking about?"

Hodgins and Booth exchanged glances.

"Nothing."

Brennan narrowed her eyes at them and lay down near Booth's feet, Angela snagging the rest of Hodgins' water.

"If you say so uh…Diego! Put that bug down right now!"

"But mom…"

"I don't want to hear it. If you bring that…Diego…" Angela's eyes widened as her son approached her, a greenish-white spider clenched firmly between his fingers.

"C'mere son." Hodgins took the boys' hand and examined the insect carefully. "It's nothing to worry about baby, araneomorph, its not a dangerous spider baby…Angela?"

Angela shot to her feet and took off running the moment Diego got within five feet of her. Half a football field away she yelled back, "Tell him to put that down!"

Her friends and family dissolved in laughter, leaving one terrified Angela to fume at them froma a distance.

"I mean it Jack! Tell him to put that down right now!"

**Poor Angela. lol, I'm uber scared of Spiders too. Please R&R!!**


	6. Wishin, hopin, thinkin, prayin

**Hey guys. I should be sleeping now, but I decided to update before hitting the sheets, so enjoy!**

----Monday---

"Mommy, I have to go to the bathroom." Madison appeared next to Brennan's desk, clutching a 'naked' purple crayon while crossing her legs uncomfortably.

Brennan jumped at the sound of her daughter's voice and immediately minimized the live news coverage she'd been watching on her computer, the reports she'd intended to do all but forgotten.

"Umm…" She glanced at Madison's pleading face and then at her computer. She didn't want to leave in case something happened while she was gone. Fortunately, she had good friends.

"I'll take her Sweetie." Angela, who'd been checking in and been shooed away every five minutes, was again at her door and reached for the little girls' hand.

"Thanks Ange."

The artist just nodded. "C'mon Sonny, I'll show you the Angelator on the way back."

"Cool!" Madison skipped alongside Angela as they made their way around the corner to the bathrooms.

Brennan took a deep breath and looked again toward the doors, hoping to see her husband strolling through them at any moment. He didn't and she brought up the window where she'd been watching the news on her screen.

"…gotten word that the building is extremely unstable. While the fire is now under control in most areas, there are still several firefighters and volunteers inside searching for survivors. The chief says now their main concern is getting everyone out as soon as possible…"

"Hi mom!"

Brennan looked over and saw David, blonde curls flapping in the breeze, barreling toward her through the lab. His shoes were tied. Ever since his fall this weekend, the reason behind the bright blue cast on his left arm and white bandage on his forehead, he'd been sure to tie them every time he put them on.

"Hi David." Brennan smiled sadly and hugged him, wincing when his cast banged her glass desk.

"Where's Uncle Jack?" He asked, practically bouncing up and down.

"In his office."

David took off again, this time brushing past Jackie and the handsome young man beside her.

"Hi Parker."

Parker just nodded, he hadn't heard what she said, the ear buds from his ipod making the task of hearing anything impossible. He went over to her couch and opened a car magazine with a scantily clad blonde in a bikini on the front.

"Listen, Dr. B…" Jackie began, standing nervously in the doorway to Brennan's office.

"I called your professor Jackie, he says it's fine if you get the tape from the lecture today." Brennan cut her off, thinking she knew what she wanted. Jackie just continued into the office, standing close to the desk and talking quietly.

"I heard on the radio what's happening downtown. Mr. B wasn't…inside when it happened, was he?"

Brennan shook her head. "I don't think so." She spoke equally as soft, glancing at her computer, "He's helping get people out."

Jackie smiled. "That sounds like him."

"Yeah, I know." Brennan looked at Parker who seemed engrossed in his magazine. "…they didn't…"

"No." Jackie answered quickly, "David was talking to Parker about something he saw on TV…they weren't paying attention to the radio."

Brennan nodded, "But he wasn't wearing his ipod was he?"

Jackie shook her head and Brennan nodded, paying her quickly.

"Thanks Jackie, I really appreciate it."

With that, the girl left and Brennan cautiously approached Parker, who didn't look up.

"Parker?" She asked, gently pulling one headphone from his ear, releasing a far off sounding, but obviously loud version of some Alternative Rock song.

"What's up Tempe?" He didn't look up from his magazine.

"Parker…" Brennan sat down and watched him carefully, "you heard it, didn't you?" She wasn't surprised to see him start to blink back tears. Parker heard everything when he wasn't wearing that Mp3 player. Perceptive by nature, just like his father.

"We're not going to lunch today are we?" He looked over for the first time, his brown eyes, identical to Booth's, locked her in an intense gaze. His square jaw set firm as he forbade his tears from falling. Still skinny with adolescence, it was obvious Parker took after Booth and would one day share his father's large frame.

"No honey we're not."

Parker nodded and rubbed his eyes.

"Is he…?"

"No! No, he's fine. I just spoke to him," A_n hour ago_ "and he said he's fine." _But he always says that_ "He's going to be here soon." _I hope._

She smiled reassuringly and touched his cheek, wanting him to believe her.

Thankfully, Parker was still enough of a child that he did not question the optimism of his stepmother.

"Okay."

Brennan sighed and attempted to smooth his spiky hair.

"Okay." She repeated, though she wasn't sure if it was for Parker or herself.

Parker dodged her offending fingers.

"Hey! I worked on this look for an hour."

"Okay okay." Brennan stood and found that seeing her boys, so much of Booth reflected in them both, actually served to lighten her mood a bit. Until Hodgins came to her doorway that is.

"You need to turn on your TV, Brennan." He said, already picking up the remote.

"No, don't. I don't want to upset Madison and David." A familiar feeling of worry came back to her chest and she ran to her desk, bringing up her news report and un-muting the sound.

"…We've just gotten word that most of the people are out of the building, two agents and one firefighter are all that is left and…" Brennan couldn't bring herself to silence the speakers, even though she heard Madison and David approaching from behind. In fact, she turned it up a bit, her heart was beating so loud in her ears she almost couldn't hear.

_Please don't be him. Please don't be him…_

"…that's the status of, whoa!…" The news reporter broke his usual monotone delivery of the facts as the camera panned behind him, showing live coverage of half the FBI building collapsing under it's own weight. "…the building has collapsed. I repeat, FBI headquarters…"

Brennan didn't hear whatever else it was he had to say before she blacked out.

**I'd laugh evily, but you wouldn't be able to hear me, so just pretend I'm laughing evily and hit the button plz!**


	7. Mini Soldiers should have velcro boots

**More fluff for the lovely squintz, I promise, answers are on the way.**

---Sunday---

"I can feel you thinking." Booth muttered into his pillow. He opened one eye to find Brennan lying on her back, staring at the ceiling, one finger tapping pensively on her stomach.

They'd gone back to Hodgins' place after a few hours at the park and he was still feeling the after effects of the abundance of wine they'd consumed.

"Sorry." She whispered, coming out of her state of deep thought.

The ceiling fan whirled slowly, creating almost no air movement in the quiet bedroom.

Booth rolled onto his side, propped himself up on his right elbow and reached over to tuck some of her hair behind her ear.

"What are you thinking so hard about?"

Brennan sighed deeply.

"My father."

He tensed but remained quiet to allow her to continue.

"I saw him at that crime scene Seeley. Why is he here? I haven't seen him since…since David's party in the park. Three years ago. Why now?" She reached up and wiped her eyes, which had inexplicably begun watering.

"What's changed? Is he trying to come back into my life?"

She turned to him, glassy eyes pleading for something stable to hold onto while her world spun around her. Booth reached for her hand and squeezed it.

"Do you want him back in your life?"

Turning to look back at the slow moving ceiling fan again, she shrugged and made another swipe at her eyes.

"I don't know. I wish…I wish this were simple. Hard facts. Empirical. Facts I understand. Bones I understand." She sighed and left off wiping away tears that were accumulating too fast to keep up with, "I will never understand my father."

Neither of them dared move for a long time. Brennan studied a spot on the ceiling, Booth studied Brennan. His concern for her took away rational thought and he had no idea what to do to comfort her, to protect her. Fortunately for him, for once in her life, Brennan already knew what she needed.

"Seeley?" Her was whisper barely audible against the harsh silence.

"Yeah Babe."

She tugged on his hand slightly, nervousness evident in her voice.

"Will you…just hold me?"

Compassion flooded Booth's eyes and without hesitation he pulled her to his chest, wrapping his muscular arms tightly around her.

Kissing the top of her hair, Booth smiled as she sighed and relaxed into him. The sound of cartoons and laughter floated in from the living room and Booth was glad the kids were occupied. He knew Brennan would need these few precious moments of peace to collect her thoughts before she was prepared to face the day.

And he would be right there waiting when she was.

--------------------------------------

"Alright Mini-soldiers. Front and center." Booth stood straight, his chest puffed out as he addressed his children.

Madison and David looked up from the TV and looked at each other. With a grin, David stood and turned off the TV before rushing to his sister's side in the dining room, lining up like the two missing VonTrapp children.

"That's better." Booth clasped his hands regally behind his back, the hint of playfulness only displayed by a slight curve of his lips. "I now turn you over to your commanding officer, Admiral Mom."

Booth stepped aside stiffly revealing a stern-faced Brennan standing behind him.

"Private David, you are on vacuum duty. I want the living room and hallway finished on the double." David tried his best not to laugh at his mother's commanding tone and raised his hand in a sloppy salute.

"Yes ma'am."

Brennan nodded and turned to Madison, looking ready for action in her baby-blue Cinderella shirt and oversized yellow dish gloves.

"As for you, Private Sonny, you will be on bathroom duty with General Dad. Understood?"

"Okay Mommy." Madison giggled when Booth winked at her before turning to his wife and exchanging salutes.

"Alright, we'll meet back here at 1200 hours, or for those of you who cannot yet read clocks, lunchtime. We will report our progress then. You are dismissed." Booth ordered.

Brennan nodded and turned to begin her assignment in the kitchen and David took off for the closet to claim the vacuum cleaner.

Madison reached her arms up and Booth bent low to catch her, swinging the little girl up onto his shoulders.

"Lets go get this done before your mom goes loco." The military air all but abandoned, Booth made his way down the hall to the small bathroom all of them shared.

Madison giggled. "Mommy! Daddy called you loco!"

Booth snatched his daughter down into his arms and tickled her furiously.

"Are you trying to get me in trouble?"

Madison's giggles grew louder as she tried to escape his tickle torture.

"Alright, here we go." Booth placed Madison on the bathroom counter. "Here are your paper towels." He sprayed the large mirror with a blue liquid and turned to her. "There you go. Make it shine Princess."

Madison nodded and immediately got to work, chattering on and on about what Jackie had told her about going to college.

"And you know what else?"

"No, what?" Booth played along, his right hand wiping globs of blue toothpaste out of the sink, his left poised behind Madison's back, prepared to catch her if she fell.

"She has a fwigewatow in hew bedwoom! She said it's a little one, almost as tall as me."

"Really? That's a pretty small refrigerator."

"Uh-huh, and you know what else?"

"What?"

"She can stay up fow as long as she wants 'cause she don't live with hew mommy and daddy no mow."

"Wow. She must get pretty tired."

"Nope. She not tiewd." Madison busied herself for a moment scrubbing a particularly stubborn smudge.

"Daddy can I have a little rewidewatow?" she asked suddenly, giving him that angelic face that almost always did him in.

Booth smiled and smoothed some of the girl's unruly hair as it fell down past the middle of her back.

"We'll ask Mom later."

Before she could respond, Booth's phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

"Booth."

"Hey man, it's Jack."

Booth tensed and glanced at Madison while taking note that he could still hear the vacuum cleaner down the hall.

"Anything?"

"Yes actually. First, I found trace crystalline 2Beta-carbomethoxy, 3Beta-benzoxytropane and saline which is…"

"Cocaine." Booth answered before the other man could explain.

"Uh…yeah. How'd you know?"

Booth sighed, taking Madison off the counter so she could dance to the music Brennan had just turned on.

"Don't sound so surprised Jack, I'm a cop. Remember?"

"Oh, right. Well, there was something unusual. A plant additive that really is neutral when mixed with cocaine, it doesn't seem to serve a purpose. I've seen this type of thing before during cases involving drugs…there's a name for it, but I can't remember right now."

Booth thought a moment, flipping his poker chip over and over in his fingers.

"A tag." He said finally, "Some gangs add a harmless ingrideint to their drugs as sort of a signature."

Booth ran a hand through his hair, going back and forth so it stood on end. "What is the additive?"

"Lillium Entispinus, a flower only found in a small area of South America, mostly in El Salvador. There's only one gang known to put this tag in their coke."

Booth closed his eyes and waited.

"Mara Muerte."

"Shit." He swore under his breath and glanced over his shoulder to be sure neither David or Madison were within earshot.

"Booth I really think you should tell…"

"Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Thanks Jack."

Booth hung up his phone and headed toward the kitchen to find Brennan.

In the living room to his right Madison twirled around in a circle, happily singing along to the a Monkeys song she loved. He followed the sound of voices to the kitchen.

"Salim will you please run down to the laundry room and put some quarters in the machine?"

David nodded, taking the quarters and running for the door.

"Bones, listen I…" She held up a silencing finger and turned in the direction David had gone.

"Salim?"

"What?"

"Make sure you tie your shoes."

"Yeah yeah."

"And remember to leave the door open so we can hear you."

"I already did!" David's voice sounded far off, indicating he'd already left and was on his way down the hall.

"Okay Seeley now what is it that you need?" Brennan turned to him, her hair falling out of it's messy ponytail, telling the tale of an afternoon of cleaning ahead of her.

"Listen I need to tell you about…"

Suddenly a scream rang out followed by a series of thuds and coins hitting a floor and wall. Both Booth and Brennan's eyes widened and their chests seized with panic. They knew that scream.

"David." He breathed, turning on his heel and bolting for the door, his wife hot on his heels.

"David?" Booth ran down the hall, calling for his son, hoping he would answer. When he reached the stairs and saw his son in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the first flight of stairs, his left forarm bent at an impossible angle, he almost tripped and fell himself.

Brennan, who'd been right behind him, saw David's arm and pushed ahead of her husband.

"Wait." She commanded calmly, bending low to look at his arm. "Looks like he's fractured the Ulna and Radius, the latter more severe. Salim?"

David hadn't moved since they got to him and she brushed some of his curls out of the way and saw a long gash on his forehead. Brennan glanced up and saw the third stair from the top had a bit of blood on the edge.

"Seeley he's unconcious, we need to get him from the hospital."

"Daddy?"

They both looked up and saw teary-eyed Madison at the top of the stairs. She could sense her parents were scared and that made her scared.

"Whatsa mattew wit David?"

"Seeley, wait here with them, I'm going to go get the keys and something to splint his arm." With that, Brennan took off up the stairs and back down the hall to the apartment.

"C'mere Princess." Booth reached down and plucked Madison off the ground, carrying her down to the transfer to sit beside David.

"He's going to be fine, he was probably running and tripped on his shoelaces," Booth glanced at David's shoes, sure enough, they were untied, "He hit his head but he's going to be okay."

Booth gently rubbed circles on David's back and kissed Madison on the forhead while he waited for his wife to return.

"Here we go." Brennan appeared and knelt beside her son, gently tieing his arm to a broken broom handle with a dishtowel.

"Our broom?"

"It's all I could find." She said calmly. "Here, give me Sonny and you carry David. Be careful of his arm."

She took Madison from her father and Booth scooped up his son, heading for the SUV parked out front.

**I didn't want you guys to be worried about poor David, so I made sure to put him in the previous chapter so we all know he's okay...now there's the little problem of the collapsed FBI building...**


	8. Unexpected Visits

**Okay first, THE ALERTS ARE BACK!!! Second, I'm sorry some were confused, here's the skinny: anything from Friday, Saturday or Sunday is a flashback to the weekend before, Monday is what is happening currently i.e. Booth may or may not be trapped inside a collapsed FBI building. The story was mostly angst so I threw in flashbacks of their fluffy weekend to even it out, plus it adds to the over all plot which will be made clear later on. Hope that clears things up Third, thanks to all the faithful reviewers, I luv ya!!**

**angel6: well...they will be talking...**

**canadiangurl & krisnina77: Yes, this is a complicated plot...I must be insane...**

---Sunday Night---

Booth pushed open the door to the apartment at half-past ten and found the lights already on. This didn't surprise him, he didn't think Brennan had had time to turn them off when they ran out of the house that afternoon in a state of full on panic.

However, when he heard sounds coming from the kitchen, he immediately tensed and stopped to listen, trying to figure out what he would do with the sleeping three-year-old in his arms before investigating further.

"Seeley, what are you doing?" Brennan's eyes were barely open when she bumped into him in the doorway. She was trying to get both David and herself to their bedrooms, a task made difficult by the fact that put together they were still not fully conscious. It had been a long day.

Booth started to 'shoosh' her when Parker appeared in the kitchen doorway.

"Hey guys." He said cheerfully, his teenage clock had him up all night and sleeping all morning so he was really quite awake.

"What's up with the creeping into the house."

"Parker?" Booth visibly relaxed and allowed his wife and son inside. "What are you doing here?"

Parker finished off a thick turkey sandwich and walked toward them, after locking the door he proceeded to follow them down the hall so David and Madison could be put to bed.

"Mom had to work late and couldn't pick me up after the game. Your place is closer than ours so I walked here."

"The game! I'm sorry we missed it Parker."

He shrugged. "It's fine dad. It's not like you were just lying around the house." Parker said, noticing David's new cast and bandage on the forehead.

He leaned against the doorway, watching in amusement as Brennan stumbled around the kids' room, trying to put them to bed when she was already half gone herself. The three days of not sleeping due to the case were definitely catching up to her.

"Babe." Booth carefully steered her around the toys strewn across the floor, they hadn't gotten around to cleaning rooms that day, "Why don't you head to bed, I'll finish up here."

"No, it's fine…I'm awake." She muttered, standing away from him to square her shoulders, the action causing her to sway slightly.

"Yeah, right." Booth kissed her on the forehead as he led her to the bedroom. "You haven't had hardly any sleep this past week, just listen to me for once."

He didn't have to tell her twice, she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

Parker waited patiently in the hallway as his father tucked Brennan in.

"Hungry?" Parker asked with a smile when his father reappeared. "I made macaroni and cheese."

Booth laughed and clapped a hand on Parker's shoulder as they made their way back out to the kitchen.

"All by yourself? I'm impressed."

"Haha, very funny dad." Parker rolled his eyes and dished out two bowls of pasta while Booth slumped into a chair at the table.

"Why didn't you call I could have had someone check in on you."

The boy snorted and sat down.

"I'm not a little kid Dad. It was only a few hours, I was fine. Besides I did call, but your phone was here. Tempe had hers when I called her, she said it was fine if I stayed for a while."

Booth frowned, stirring his hot food absently.

_Must've been while I was filling out insurance forms._

"She probably just forgot to tell you, she sounded pretty worried. Is David okay? I saw the cast and the bandage on his head."

"Yeah, he's fine. Fell down the stairs, broke his ul…arm and banged his head pretty good so they wanted to make sure he didn't have any swelling or anything. Lots of tests…lots of waiting. Turns out everything was fine." Booth rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Man, I'm beat. As much as I'd like to sample this fine cuisine you've prepared son, I think I better just hit the sheets. When is your mother picking you up?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Mom asked if I could just stay here tonight. She called a little while ago and said someone else canceled their shift and she'll be working graveyard too."

Booth nodded. "Sure, I'll help you set up your bed."

Parker rose and followed his father to the living room so they could pull out the couch-bed.

"So how was the game?"

Parker groaned. "We got stomped on. 17-5."

Booth winced and tossed a pillow at him. "I told you the Hawks were tough."

"Yeah. We would've been alright if Joey hadn't broken his finger last week. But as it was we were without our best player."

Booth pulled back the blanket and looked at him.

"The best player? I don't think I'd say that."

Parker blushed. "Da-ad."

"C'mon Parker. Who scored those five points?" Booth smiled and waited for Parker to look up at him. When he did, he was grinning for all he was worth. "Who?"

"I did."

"That's right." Booth reached over to squeeze Parker's slim shoulder. "I'm proud of you, you know that don't you?"

"Yeah Dad, I know."

Booth smiled and gave his shoulder another quick squeeze. "Good. I'll see you tomorrow Parker."

"G'night Dad."

-----------------------------------

---Monday Morning---

Booth had every intention of telling Brennan about the letter and Hodgins' findings the next morning, but it may have slipped his mind. Between waking up twenty minutes late, Brennan rushing around because she had a meeting first thing with Goodman, David losing his left shoe, Madison unhappy that she couldn't wear her purple cape to preschool and Parker's hogging the bathroom, it just may have been forgotten.

"Bye Babe I love you." Brennan quickly pecked Booth on the cheek, waved to her children and bolted down the sidewalk to her car. "See you at lunch kids!"

David waved from his bus, Sonny waved from the backseat of Jackie's car and Parker bobbed his head to his music in the front. The vehicles turned their respective corners, two followed by inconspicuous black cars, and Booth was alone on the sidewalk in front of his building.

He took a deep breath for the first time that morning as he got in his SUV, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

He really needed to tell Brennan about the note.

_She's going to be angry that I didn't tell her, of course it's not for lack of trying._

He flipped open his phone to call her, and swore when it wasn't on.

_Forgot to plug it in last night, Damnit._

With that plan scratched he started to drive to the Jeffersonian, wouldn't be a big deal if he was late.

Then he swore again. It would be a big deal. Especially to Cullen and Mark Johnston, Cullen's boss, whom he was having a meeting with that morning.

Pulling a slightly illegal U-turn, Booth went back in the direction of HQ, shaking his head and frowning.

_It never rains but it pours._

He decided he should leave early for lunch to get to the lab before Jackie brought Madison. He could tell Brennan then.

Of course, when Booth grabbed his keys and left the building three hours later, he didn't know an explosive had just been delivered to his desk in the clever guise of inconspicuous brown paper packaging.

----------------------------------------

---Monday Afternoon---

Barely an hour had passed when Booth finally made it to her office. She seemed to be sleeping, but from the tearstains he'd wiped off his daughter and son's faces just moments before, he knew it was much more than a simple nap.

"Boooonnes." He cooed softly, sitting down beside her limp form on the couch.

Brennan didn't stir, the calming sound surrounded her and she found she was quite comfortable here in the world of unconsciousness.

"C'mon Babe…open those eyes for me."

The sound became clearer and she was able to identify it as a voice. She liked that voice, she also liked the feeling of someone gently stroking hair off her forehead.

It made her feel safe. Loved.

"Temperance."

_Wait…that voice…I know…_

Brennan's eyes shot open and she gasped.

"Seeley." She whispered, her body stiff as a board, still unsure as to whether or not she was dreaming.

Booth was glad to see the blue depths of her eyes and smiled, hoping to chase away the ghosts in them.

"Yeah, I'm right here Babe. Sorry I scared you…and made you faint, which you've never done before, which in turn scared Angela…who's still breathing into a paper bag I think." He was mildly amused by Angela's intense reaction to Brennan's rare demonstration of frailty. He sobered though, when he remembered walking into Brennan's office, both his youngest children sobbing uncontrollably.

"Seeley." She reached up to touch his face. He was sitting next to her, one hand on her cheek, the other propping him up against the back of the couch. "You got out."

Booth turned his head to kiss her palm, nodding.

"I did. Just before the building collapsed."

Something about the way he said it made her wonder.

"You don't seem happy about that." She stated quietly. Booth glanced out the window through the blinds. He could see Hodgins and Angela had distracted David and Madison with weird and wonderful 'squint things', but Parker, while trying to look interested, kept throwing nervous glances at Brennan's office.

"I am." He turned back to her. "I'm happy to be back with you." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"But?" She stared at him when he sat back up, knowing there was more.

"But…there were three people still inside…Cullen was one of them."

Brennan caught her breath.

"Oh no…Cullen. I'm so sorry Booth."

Booth just nodded, looking at the ground. "The explosion originated on our floor, they haven't pinpointed where exactly just yet, but...it could have just as easily been me."

It was in that moment, while Brennan stared at his profile and saw his body language so intense and strong, that she knew. If there was ever any doubt, she knew in that moment she could never live without him.

So, she reached up, and punched him hard in the arm.

"What the hell?!" Booth flinched and pulled away. "What was that for?" He looked at her as if she'd lost her mind.

Brennan sat up and faced him, her eyes on fire . "That was for scaring the daylights out of me."

"Bones, I said I'm…" Booth began.

"No! You don't understand. I need you Booth. Our kids need you. David and Parker worship you, Sonny adores you, I adore you. You can't keep doing this."

"What?"

"This thing where you need to rescue everyone and everything, giving no regard to your own human weakness."

Booth frowned but Brennan continued undeterred.

"Everyday I have to deal with the fact that you don't walk around with a Kevlar vest on under your suit…everyday I wonder if I'll be tucking David and Sonny in alone that night. You can't keep jumping in front of bullets and running into burning buildings. I won't be able to take it. You're not Superman Booth!" Her voice broke with tears she dared not shed and surprisingly, Booth smiled.

"You know what Superman is?"

"It's Parker's favorite movie. You know I know that."

"And I couldn't be more proud."

Brennan didn't smile in return.

"Booth it's not funny."

Booth got serious and took her hand.

"I love my job…"

"I know you do. But I…"

"Will you let me finish?" He asked calmly and Brennan shut her mouth.

"I love my job. I love working with you. But I realize that my job, first and foremost is to be a husband to you and a father to those kids." He glanced out the window where something Zack had done had everyone laughing, even Parker.

"I can't change who I am Temperance."

"I don't want you to."

Booth gave her a look and again, she shut her mouth.

"But…I can tell you that I am careful. I wouldn't have gone back into that building if I didn't have pretty good confidence that I'd be able to make it back out alive. Life is full of risks, but I promise you I'm doing my best to come home to you every night. I love you and Parker and David and Madison. I love you more than life itself, I would never intentionally, or through my own stupidity, allow myself to fall into harms way. Okay?"

Brennan stared at him for a moment and without asking she knew it was true.

"Okay." She nodded. "Good."

Booth smiled and leaned over to kiss her.

"Good."

**There, see? i saved him! Yay me!!! Now please R&R.**


	9. When you're gone

**Here we go...next chap is a biggie...**

---Monday---

Brennan pulled back from the kiss and noted the fatigue in Booth's eyes when he tried to smile at her.

"How about we just head home?"

Booth glanced at the clock, it was only 2pm, but he didn't argue.

Their hands laced as they rose from the couch and Brennan grabbed her bag leading the way out of the office.

"Who knew any of us would live to see the day when Temperance Brennan would leave the lab before 6pm?" He asked teasingly, earning a playful slap on the stomach when Brennan smiled up at him.

"Very funny Booth. Really, I'm laughing on the inside."

Booth wrapped an arm around her waist and she leaned into him as they made their way toward the group of squints and the kids.

"Daddy! Mommy! Guess what?" Madison yelled, running over and tugging on their shirts, "Angela made a pit'uwe of me in the…the…big floaty thingy!" She pointed enthusiastically toward Angela's office where a picture of Madison spun around slowly in the Angelator. Madison wearing an unmistakable smile.

Brennan turned wide-eyed to Angela.

"Did she really do that?" Brennan panicked slightly at the thought of her daughter learning how to do the signature 'charm smile' already.

"No Sweetie, I took a picture I had of Parker and sort of…altered the picture I did of Sonny." She winked. "Looks real though, right?"

"Oh." Brennan relaxed visibly and ruffled Madison's hair who immediately returned to look at whatever Hodgins had been showing them on a computer screen.

Booth squeezed Brennan's hip. "Don't get too excited Babe, you know she'll learn it eventually." Booth smiled as David poked his sister playfully in the side and she squealed, glad his youngest children were completely unaware of his most recent near-death experience. He wished it would always be that way, but one look at Parker told him it wouldn't.

"Don't sound so satisfied about it. You know who that charm smile works best on don't you?"

"Who?"

"The opposite sex Seeley." She shrugged one shoulder and Booth's face immediately darkened.

"Not if this ex-sniper has anything to say about it." He said, straightening his posture and watching Madison carefully from the other side of the room.

Brennan burst out laughing.

"What?"

"It's just good to know some things never change. You will always be the same old overprotective Booth. FBI homicide investigator and ex-sniper Army Ranger."

Booth kissed her, "You can bet on it Bones."

Then he glanced up at Parker, his feet dangled over the edge of the walkway above them, his head pressed into the banister, eyes closed.

"Listen Bones, I'm gonna take a minute with Parker, could you…"

"Yeah, of course. David really wants to see those pirate bones I'm examining, we'll be right over there." She pointed to a nearby exam room and went to collect David and Madison while Booth headed for the stairs.

-------------------------------

"Hey."

Parker looked up. "Hi dad." He smiled up at his father and watched him sit down beside him, both their arms threaded through the banisters of the walkway.

"Ah, yes. The land of the squints." Booth sighed and looked out over the lab platform where Zach's assistant and Brennan's were arguing over who should clean the bones.

"It's very bright." Said Parker.

"And shiny." Said Booth.

"And clean." They said together, Parker remembering word for word the phrase his father used so often to describe 'Brennan's Domain'. The two laughed softly for a moment before the heavy silence descended again.

"Are you okay?"

Booth looked over and found Parker's eyes as wide and innocent as they had been when he was a child, he hadn't sent those eyes in a long time.

"Yeah, Parker. I'm fine."

Parker nodded and turned away again. "We thought…"

"I know what you thought. But it's not true, okay? I'm right here."

Parker was still nodding, and now added cracking his knuckles to his nervous fidgeting.

"It's just that…someday you won't…you won't be able to…I don't know if I can handle it Dad."

Booth frowned, he'd just had this conversation with Brennan, but for some reason, this seemed different.

"What do you mean?"

"I…If you were to…ya' know…go. I don't know if I would be able to handle it…taking care of them." He gestured with his head to where David and Madison were chattering animatedly at Zack. "And mom and Tempe too…I don't know if I could handle it."

"Hey." Booth said gently, "I'm not going anywhere Parker, not for a long time if I can help it. But…if that happens…I know you'll be able to handle it."

"How? How do you know?" Parker asked desperately, his black Converse shoes stopped swinging beneath him as he stared intently at his father.

Booth smiled. "Because Parker, you're you. You're as stubborn as you're mother, and as strong, if not stronger than me." Parker scoffed but Booth continued, "Because of the way you watch Sonny out of the corner of your eye when we're at the park or the store. Because of the way you wait on the corner so you can walk David home from the bus stop."

Parker's mouth dropped, he didn't know his father knew he did those things.

"And because of how strong you were today. She may not say it, but Tempe really needed that strength today. Your strength."

"I don't know about that. I was mostly trying to keep myself from crying." Parker smiled and shrugged, turning away.

"That's just it Parker." A feminine voice said softly.

Both Booths turned to find Brennan standing at the top of the stairs, the most tender look on her face either of them had ever seen.

She approached them slowly, "I needed that today, because I knew I wasn't alone in my…fear. Besides, you wouldn't be alone. I'd be here still."

Parker turned away again and she sensed that was not what he wanted to hear.

_So young and yet still such an alpha, so much like his father._

Brennan crouched down on his level. "Parker do I ever say something if I'm not absolutely sure I'm right?"

"No."

"So if I tell you that if something should ever happen to Seeley and he…if I tell you that there is no one I'd rather have looking out for Salim, Sonny and I than you, if that were to happen, would you believe me?"

Parker looked at her a moment and then nodded. "Yeah I would."

"Good, I'm saying it now." She quickly kissed him on the forehead and stood up. "And you know I'm always right."

Parker and Booth laughed, nodding as they stood up, both groaning loudly as their backs cracked from the sudden movement.

"Well that didn't sound good." Brennan raised an eyebrow at them.

"Yeah Dad, what was that?"

"Hey! I'm old. What's your excuse?" He put his arm around Parker's slim shoulders and they headed for the stairs.

"My excuse is that uncomfortable piece of furniture you call a couch. I feel like I slept on rocks."

"That bad huh?"

"Oh yeah. You guys should definitely consider a new one. In fact, I'm demanding it."

"Demanding it?"

"Yeah, I'm the one that's got to sleep on it all the time."

"Well…maybe you need your own bed." Brennan turned around suddenly.

"Yeah, and where would we fit another bed Bones? The kitchen?"

"No, in a bedroom. Maybe we should buy a house Seeley, or a new apartment at the very least."

They'd made it to the bottom of the stairs and were headed to get Madison and David away from poor frazzled looking Dr. Addy.

"A new apartment?"

"Yes…or a house. Obviously ours is too small. Our dresser doubles as our office, David and Madison share a room and Parker sleeps on the couch. It's not practical. We need a bigger space and I think I like the idea of a house."

Booth studied her for a moment and noted the determined look on her face. He knew it was no use arguing, not that he really wanted to argue.

"Okay. Sure. We'll start house hunting tomorrow." Brennan smiled, satisfied. "Alright Princess, David, it's time to go."

"But Dad…" Their whining began, "Can't we stay just a little longer?"

"C'mon guys, Daddy's tired, but how about we stop at the video store on the way home and pick something up, then I'll make popcorn and we can have movie night." Brennan put on her best doesn't-that-sound-like-an-absolutely-brilliant-idea face. And the kids bought it like it was on sale.

"Cool! Movie night."

"Yeah. Cool!"

They bounded down the platform and sprinted for the door, calling out 'goodbyes' to the grateful squints and lab techs they were leaving behind. Most of them loved when the 'Little Booths' came to visit, but they were certainly tireing.

"Parker why don't you come along? I'm sure Rebecca won't mind."

"That's alright Tempe, I've got a Biology test in my last class and practice after school so I'll just go back." He reached for one headphone and put it in the ear not facing them, "Not that an afternoon of hyper kids and funny colored cartoon characters isn't appealing."

Brennan rolled her eyes and strolled ahead to the doors with Parker while Booth paused to check a text message on his phone that had been waiting since he'd left the EMT at the Hoover Building.

His heart stopped as he read the short message.

**Who will protect them once you're gone?**

Booth snapped his phone shut and ran after his family toward the doors, hardly able to breathe.

But it was too late.

He burst through them and out to the cloudy, dark mid afternoon air, a cool breeze hit him but he hardly noticed, too focused on the sight before him to really notice anything about the weather.

The sight of little Madison struggling, sobbing in the arms of a black-clad man three times her size. The sight of David's hands being held tight against his sides as he was lifted off the ground, screaming for all he was worth. The sight of Parker to his right, being held firmly in place by two other men in black who hissed at him to stop moving, 'they didn't want him anyway'. And the sight of Brennan, looking from one face to another, trying to decide who she would hit first and immobilized by the sight of her children in danger.

"Well Agent Booth?"

Both the children quieted immediately and everyone turned toward the sound of the voice as a man stepped from the shadows.

"Who will protect them once you're gone?" The man asked quietly, the anger in his voice tinted with concern.

Booth reached for his piece, wondering whether or not this time would be different. If this time, Brennan would stop him from shooting her father.

**Uh-huh...uh-huh...who saw that coming? If you did you deserve MAJOR kudos cuz I didn't even know it was coming until I wrote it. lol. **


	10. Explanations and Ultimatems

**Haha!! Finally suceeded in throwing in a twist no one saw coming (pats self on back) glad to hear it. Now, many of you had questions as to Max's motives and what he is or isn't responsible for, and many of you will find your answers in this chap...**

---Monday---

The day seemed gloomy on purpose. Gray ominous skies ushered in what would surly be a horrendous thunderstorm that night while incidentally providing the perfect backdrop to the drama playing out below.

"Dad?" The shock in Brennan's face quickly turned to anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Behind him Brennan saw another figure standing in the shadows.

_Russ no doubt._

Max glanced at his daughter before returning his gaze to Booth.

"I'm sorry Tempe, but something has to be done."

"Something has to be done about what?" Brennan turned back to David and Madison. The little girl had huge fat tears rolling down her cheeks and her tiara lay on the ground a few feet away, broken in two.

David was now completely still, biting his lower lip, having mustered up a courage he had no reason to have and imitating perfectly the stony expression both Parker and Booth wore. Brennan didn't know whether she felt proud of her seven-year-old son showing such courage, or angry because he had to.

The sound of her father's voice brought Brennan out of her thoughts.

"I'd stop reaching for that gun if I were you Agent Booth. You wouldn't want your children to see you like that would you? A killer?"

Booth paused and Brennan looked at him.

"Just shoot him Booth. Gordon Gordon will talk to the kids later." She spat, a familiar fire blazing in her eyes.

Max's mouth dropped. "But Tempe…"

"No! You have no right to drop back into my life and do this. I haven't seen you in three years and now not only are you here but you're trying to take my kids from me? No."

Brennan suddenly turned and marched right up to the man holding Madison. Before he had a chance to react she'd rammed the heel of her right hand directly into his nose, eliciting a sickening crack when it broke. As he let go of the little girl to tend to his wound, Brennan grabbed Madison and pulled her close, kissing her forehead.

Booth almost smiled at the way Brennan went from fearless warrior to tender mother like the flipping of a light switch.

_God I love her._ A thought he couldn't help but have, even though he knew it was entirely off topic at that moment.

"Sweetie I want you to go inside. Go right now, find Aunt Angela and stay with her okay?"

"No mommy I…"

"Go Princess." Booth said calmly, his eyes never leaving Max's face.

Madison's eyes flickered toward her father and then back to her mother. She nodded and ran to the door, ignoring completely the battered and broken pieces of a tiara at her feet.

Brennan took a deep breath and stood, looking at the figure holding David. The broad shouldered man glanced at his bleeding colleague, then at their fearless leader. He really didn't want to go head to head with this woman, especially since they'd been given instructions in no uncertain terms of what would happen if one hair on any of Max's families' heads was harmed.

He didn't want that either.

After receiving a curt nod from Max, the man put David on the ground and stepped back.

"Go take care of your sister." Was all Brennan said, running a hand over the top of his head reassuringly. David looked at his father and mother, then at his older brother.

"Parker too?" He questioned, biting his lower lip in a way reminiscent of his mother.

Booth nodded, his hand still poised on his gun, which rested in it's holster, and answered before Max had the chance.

"Parker too."

Max raised his eyebrow, but didn't object. "Fine. Doesn't really matter. We'll come back for them. Tempe too."

Booth heard the door click shut and whipped out his gun, training it on Max's head.

"Like hell." He muttered.

Brennan stepped forward. She could tell by the way their attackers were moving that none of them had guns. Booth couldn't shoot unarmed men, the reasons why were really too abundant to point out.

"Seeley." She put a staying arm on his shoulder and he relaxed only slightly.

"I haven't cocked it yet Babe." He said, only half-jokingly.

"Babe?" Max rolled his eyes. "Original Agent Booth."

Brennan turned to her father slowly, the look of fury on her face was one Booth had never seen matched. He wondered how many of them would make it out of this alive.

"Dad. You're quite fortunate I'm someone who can't stand to have questions left unanswered or you'd be a dead man right now." She told him gravely, stepping between Booth and her father, indicating this was fight she intended to take on alone. Booth understood and did not protest.

"So tell me what this is all about."

Max seemed satisfied that she'd finally asked. "Well, Tempe, it seems Agent Booth here has a few enemies."

Booth knitted his eyebrows together and glanced at a few of the other men.

"What are you talking about?" Brennan looked back at Booth and then at her father. "Of course he has enemies. We both do."

Max left his eyes on Booth, the amusement that had been there before was replaced with hostility and they grew cold.

"I gave you three days Agent Booth. You did nothing. You let them be in danger."

Booth narrowed his eyes, realizing Max knew as much about the situation his children were in as he did.

"How do you know about any of that?"

"C'mon Booth, you really think a guy like me spends twenty years on the run and doesn't rack up a few contacts?"

Booth's shoulders slumped and Max continued, both of them ignoring the wide-eyed look Brennan was giving them, her mouth open with words she couldn't figure out how to say. Why did the both her father and her husband seem to know about something she didn't?

"They each had an agent on them. They weren't in any immediate danger, I wouldn't allow that to happen. And I am going to find out who is behind all this."

"Oh? So you knew about the man parked out in front of David's school today? Because I can tell you for a fact the agent I passed on my way to kill him certainly didn't."

Booth's mouth dropped and he tilted his head.

"No…that's impossible."

"Not impossible Booth!" Max stepped forward, his voice rising with each syllable, "I told you to protect them! To take care of them. You've failed to do that. You're still running around the country chasing serial killers and sociopaths. Worse yet you're taking Tempe with you, is that what you call taking care of her?" Max thrust a finger in his daughter's direction.

"You've failed Agent Booth. I thought Tempe would be better off here with you, I see now I was wrong and they are coming with me. All of them." Max shook his head slowly, his mouth upturned in disgust, "You're lucky I don't kill you where you stand."

Brennan, at this point, had had enough and any hurt or vulnerability she'd been feeling upon seeing her father, vanished. She was not too keen on being out of the loop, but when someone threatened her partner, she got pissed. Especially when that partner happened to be her husband.

In one swift motion she stepped behind Max, grabbed his left arm and twisted it hard up behind his back. The pain radiating from his shoulder brought the man down to one knee and Russ stepped forward.

"Stay back Russ or I let Booth shoot you too." She hissed, not even bothering to turn around.

Russ stopped. "Tempe…"

"Now, is someone going to tell me what's going on?" She cut him off, "Because the older bones are, that much longer they take to set." She accompanied her last word with a slight push on Max's shoulder and he winced. She was only slightly disturbed that inflicting pain on her father after all these years was accompanied by a twinge of satisfaction.

_Just like I always thought it would._

"Tempe please…"

"One more word Russ and I'll shoot you myself." Brennan snapped, her tone revealing the seriousness of her threat and Booth had to smile at the way Russ seemed to recoil in on himself. But his satisfaction faded quickly when Max addressed him once more.

"Well…are you going to tell her?"

"Tell me what?!"

Both men ignored her question.

"I am going to tell her. But in my own time, and that time is certainly not in the middle of my children being kidnapped."

Max's eyes snapped to Booth's in a glare that anyone else would have found intimidating. But…Booth doesn't intimidate.

"Well, Agent Booth, I wouldn't have to kidnap anyone if you weren't such an idiot." Brennan's grip tightened on his arm but he continued uninterrupted. "What if you hadn't made it out of there today? Who would protect them from the Mara Muerte then Booth?" Max shouted, and it echoed off the stillness of the fog slowly surrounding them and it was several seconds before anyone spoke. Before anyone breathed.

The calm before the storm.

Booth's face darkened and Brennan suddenly released Max, a look of confusion painted across her face.

"What has this got to do with the Mara Muerte?" She looked at her father and her father looked at Booth.

"You're right Tempe, Agent Booth does have some enemies. One of them a very angry gang leader."

Brennan's face was slowly graced with recognition and she began shaking her head.

"That's my fault."

Both Max and Booth's heads snapped in her direction.

"What?"

Brennan pursed her lips. "I beat up Ortez in the FBI building seven years ago. I wounded his pride. I can't believe he would hold a grudge over something so stupid for seven years …but it's the only logical explanation." The hostility left her features for a moment as she tried to piece together what pieces she had and for a moment, she was only a scientist working on a hypothesis.

"We haven't had any dealings with the Mara Muerte since then…so that's got to be it. If our family, any of us, are in danger from the Mara Muerte, then it's because of me." Brennan looked at her father and the scientist had been replaced with the warrior once more.

Booth fought to keep his expression impassive as guilt rose in his chest.

"No Bones. None of you are in danger."

"You can bet on that Agent." Max hissed. "Because I've taken care of Ortez. I've taken care of it, I've taken care of you, the same way I always have."

Max let his head bow in pain and grunted as Russ came to help him stand.

Brennan stared at her father and watched Booth out of the corner of her eye. He seemed tense, but under the circumstances, that was to be expected.

"You mean you murdered him." Brennan said quietly, anger, hurt and disbelief coexisting in her voice.

The answer she did not receive from either her brother or her father was answer enough for Brennan. "Get the hell out of my life."

"What?" Max's mouth dropped in shock.

"You heard me. If Booth says we were safe then we were. You had no right to take the law into your own hands, now get out of here before I take it into mine."

"Tempe…I'm your father. I was just trying to keep you safe." Max's shocked tone was now slightly pleading but Brennan didn't budge.

Instead she let out a bark of laughter that surprised all her male counterparts in the vicinity.

"And you really think David, Sonny and I would be safer with you, a wanted criminal, than with Seeley, a decorated war veteran and FBI agent? C'mon Max, my father? Try again. Not only did you abandon me over 20 years ago and have been absent at best since then…but you're a murderer. You kill people, you set them on fire. You robbed banks…you do all that and still expect me to call you my father?" She shook her head.

"No. I refuse to claim a murderer and a thief as family. You. Are. Not. My father." Her blue eyes were ice and Max shivered.

"But Tempe…"

"My name is Dr. Temperance Brennan-Booth and you will address me as such." She stated sharply, "I'm a grown woman Max. I'm old enough to choose for myself who to trust and who to believe. I trust Seeley with everything I am and with the safety of our family. He's never given me a reason not to and you have never given me a reason to believe a word you say. I've made my decision and he's it." She took a step back and stood beside Booth to illustrate her point.

"Now. If you value your freedom, you will leave right now and take all these men with you. If I ever see your face again I won't hesitate to get your picture into every post office and on every TV screen in the country and don't think for a second that I can't, or won't do it. You are a criminal and you've used up all your chances. Go now, and don't ever come back."

**More tomorrow if it's wanted peeps. **


	11. Secrets, lies and sweet torture

**Thanks for the glowing reviews of the last chap and I hope this one is recieved just as warmly. **

Max stood still for a long moment looking between his daughter and the man she'd chosen.

Booth had lowered his gun and now had an arm wrapped protectively around Brennan's waist. The way he held himself, tall and confident, it made Max wonder if maybe all of this had been a mistake. It was the look in his daughter's eyes that convinced him.

There was once a time when Max could read every shadow in her eyes, every minuscule adjustment to her face that told a books worth of information about what she was thinking or feeling. But in looking at her now, he realized she was right. He wasn't her father. Not anymore.

Back then he'd been her father. Now those eyes were closed off to him and he realized she'd built a new life for herself. One he was not a part of. One he'd forced her to create.

She was safe with Booth. At the very least, safer than he could ever make her.

Max blinked and nodded.

"Goodbye Tempe. I love you." With only half a second's hesitation he turned and started walking away, across the parking lot and disappearing into the fog with his men. All of them, except Russ.

Russ looked at his sister and felt his heart breaking, joining the trust he'd broken so long ago.

He nodded at his sister and Brennan half-expected him to say 'Marco'.

She was only half-disappointed when he didn't.

Booth squeezed Tempe's hip as her father and brother left for what would hopefully be the last time.

Brennan waited until she couldn't see them anymore and pulled away from her husband.

"Bones I…"

"Not now Booth. Lets get the kids and go home. We'll talk later." She said coolly, before turning and walking inside the lab.

Booth followed, not missing the fact that she'd just called him by his last name.

--------------------------------------

The silence wasn't broken until they got back to the apartment after dropping Parker off at home. He, understandably, no longer wanted to go back to school.

After calming Angela, the small family left the lab. The children were unusually quiet the whole way home, though their parents didn't really notice. David and Madison could have been having a jam session with Metallica in the back seat and Booth and Brennan's thoughts would most likely not have been interrupted.

Brennan sat facing away from Booth, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared blankly out the window as a soft drizzle coverd it, the dark clouds finally beginning to drop their load.

_I told him to leave…but he'll never really be gone will he? That's not the kind of man he is. He'll always be there, in the shadows, watching out for me. _She shivered and pursed her lips._ I should have had them arrested. They deserve to be arrested…I can't believe he actually tried to take us from Booth…Booth. He's keeping things from me._ She glanced over at him, but his face was unreadable._ I wonder how much._

Booth gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles and kept glancing in the rear view mirror at Madison and David in the back seat, as if he expected them to suddenly disappear. He'd never come that close to losing them…and Max's words kept ringing in his ears.

_You did nothing. You let them be in danger._

_Did I do the wrong thing? Should I have been more careful?_ He wondered._ But what was I going to do, take them to work with me? Put them under house arrest?_ He shook his head at himself ever so slightly._ I should have told Bones. She trusts me…I should have told her._

Understandably, both Brennan and Booth were apprehensive about the conversation they would no doubt be having once they got back to their apartment.

--------------------------

"But Mommy I'm not even tiwed." Madison stated quietly, tears already gathering in her eyes. Her mother announced when they arrived at home that the children would be taking a nap.

"What are you talking about Sonny? You can barely keep your eyes open." Brennan crouched down to be on Madison's eye level and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

David stood beside his father, his arms crossed defiantly over his chest.

"I'm not tired either."

Booth smiled at him. "The sooner you go to sleep the sooner tomorrow can come and we can go look for a new house." He said cheerfully.

"We're getting a new house?" David looked up at him, eyes wide.

"Yup. You're finally going to get your own room buddy."

David's face brightened and he quickly kicked off his shoes and slid into bed, shutting his eyes tight.

Madison on the other hand, was now choking back sobs.

"No I don't want my own woom!" She wailed, and Booth crouched down beside Brennan, taking one of her small hands.

"Why not Princess?"

"Cause…cause I'm scawed." She hiccupped and wiped her eyes. "The bad men might come back and they bwoke my pwincess tiawa."

Booth's face darkened and he was glad Max was already long gone, or he might have reconsidered his decision to let him walk away without a few extra air holes in him.

_He scared my daughter._ The thought alone made his blood boil.

Brennan's face, on the other hand softened, guilt and affection painting her features.

She took Madison's small shoulders in her hands and waited for her to look up.

"Madison are you listening to me?"

The girl nodded and sniffed loudly.

"Okay. When we move Sweetheart, the bad men won't know where we are. I promise they're not coming back. And tomorrow we'll get you a new tiara okay?"

"A bigger one." Booth added, kissing her on the forehead.

Madison looked thoughtful for a moment, but not quite convinced.

"I still want David to shawe a woom wif me." She said quietly.

Booth thought for a moment before pulling Madison into his arms and hugging her tight.

"I know you do Princess." He picked her up and set her on the pink Barbie bed sheet. "But if you share with David we can't paint your room pink and turn it into a princess tower."

Brennan saw what Booth was doing and followed his lead.

"Yeah, I don't think David wants a princess room…do you?"

Madison looked between her parents, trying to decide if it was true.

"Weally? I can have a weal live pwincess woom?" She asked, tears drying on her cheeks as she took hold of a fuzzy brown bear and squeezed it in excitement.

Both her parents nodded and she squealed, earning a glare from half-awake David, and she scurried underneath her covers, asleep in moments.

Brennan was first to leave the bedroom and Booth quietly shut off the light and closed the door.

He paused for a moment, his hand still on the doorknob.

_Here goes nothing._

With a deep breath Booth turned and went in the direction Brennan had gone down the hallway to their bedroom.

He'd expected to see her glaring at him, arms folded across her chest, waiting for an explanation. Anger ablaze in her blue eyes.

So what he found was quite surprising. Brennan had simply gone to the basket of clean clothes on the bed and begun folding. Her pants. His shirts. Rhythmically and rationally she set each article of clothing aside while he watched from the doorway.

"Temperance?"

Finally she stopped moving and looked at him. He caught his breath because instead of seeing anger as he'd expected, the blue in her eyes was laced with hurt. Booth immediately regretted everything he'd done to put it there.

"How long have you known?"

Booth hesitated and went to his bag, pulling out a manilla file folder and handing her copies of the pictures and the note.

"These were delivered to our door on Friday."

Brennan took a moment to study the pictures, her face moving from anger to fear and back again.

"Four days Booth…why didn't you tell me?" None of the pain in her eyes was reflected in her voice. She put her hands on her hips and stared at him expectantly. All business.

Booth ran his hand through his hair and began pacing.

"At first it was because you hadn't slept nearly all week and I didn't want to burden you with something else to worry about, at least not until I was sure it was a serious threat. I got a couple agents to keep tabs on them at all times and then had Hodgins do his thing on the note. That's when I found out it had to do with the Mara Muerte. I was going to tell you then for sure, but then David fell down the stairs and it honestly slipped my mind. Then my phone was dead…the fire...I really tried Temperance…it just…"

Brennan looked at him, appalled.

"Slipped your mind Booth? How does this," She thrust the pictures into his face, "slip your mind? It's not your job to protect me, not like this and I think that's what you were doing. On some subconscious level whether you admit it or not, you didn't want to tell me. You wanted to solve it all yourself and you hoped I wouldn't find out. That's not the kind of protection I need Booth." She shouted.

"Look Bones I…"

"It's my fault!" She threw her hands in the air and started pacing. "I'm the one who beat up Ortez, you should have told me the repercussions of my actions! I can't believe you would try and keep that from me. I had a right to know that what I did put our children in danger."

Booth winced and looked away, fiddling absently with his poker chip.

Brennan noticed his sudden discomfort and stopped moving. "What?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look the, uh, whole being beat up, thing, may not have been the only reason Ortez had a grudge."

Brennan's eyes narrowed and Booth took her by the elbow and sat her on the edge of the bed.

"I'm listening." She prodded, when she felt he'd stalled long enough.

"You, um, you remember when I was late to the Duarte funeral after the Mara Muerte case?"

"Yeah."

"Okay well…see, after you beat up Ortez he was a little…pissed I guess, and he put a hit out on you." He waited a moment and added. "He wanted you dead."

"I know what a 'hit' is Booth." She said sharply, causing him to flinch. "What did you do about it." She asked, knowing full-well that he had to have done something in order for him to look as guilty as he did right then.

"I…um…I cornered him in an alley and I …intimidated him." He waved his hand vaguely, hoping she would fill in the blanks for herself.

But Temperance Brennan doesn't do conjecture.

"How exactly did you intimidate him?"

Booth sighed and clasped his hands in his lap.

"I took out my gun, put it in his mouth and cocked it," Brennan's eyes widened while Booth's tone remained flat, "I told him to take off the hit or I'd kill him. I…didn't really leave any room for doubt."

Brennan was quiet for a moment and Booth didn't really want to know what she was thinking. He was pretty sure it wasn't good.

"Is that all?"

He nodded, swallowing what was left of his apprehension. "That's the general jest of it. The hit was taken off and a few weeks later he landed in jail so I figured it was a done deal."

Brennan jumped up from the bed and looked at him. "A done deal? You threatened a notorious gang leader…you did exactly what my father always does! I don't need anyone to kill on my behalf Booth! You put yourself in danger and now the kids too." Brennan was so angry she could hardly see straight. She brought her hands to her face and covered her eyes.

"How could you Booth? You lied to me…for years you've been lying to me…"

"Temperance but…" Booth stood and tried to walk toward her.

She held up her hand to silence him and took a deep breath. Booth felt her suddenly get calm and it caused his own heartbeat to speed up exponentially.

"You know what? I told Max that I trusted you more than him…but I guess I don't."

Booth stepped back, feeling as if he'd just been slapped and he watched silently as Brennan picked up her purse and walked out the door.

After a second he followed. Down the hall and to the living room where she was putting on her shoes.

"Where are you going?"

"Out." She replied simply.

"Oh." The defeat in his voice surprised even him and he could only watch as she pulled on her coat and headed for the front door.

The incredible sinking feeling Booth felt in his chest was near crippling as she reached for the doorknob. Something told him he shouldn't leave it like this. Couldn't leave it like this.

Brennan took hold of the door, intending to whip it open and slam it shut behind her, but then Booth's voice filled the air.

"I wet the bed until I was six."

Brennan stopped moving and Booth clamped his mouth shut.

_I can't believe I just said that._ But now was no time for embarrassment.She'd paused, which meant he had a very small window of opportunity to stop her.

"We had a home break-in when I was eleven and I slept on the floor of my parents' room every night for two years because I was afraid to be alone." His voice remained quiet and his movements slow, not wanting to scare her off.

Brennan let go of the doorknob but didn't turn around, crossing her arms over her chest and waiting to see where he was going with this. Booth cautiously crossed the room toward her.

"I was late to 3rd period everyday my sophomore year because I wouldn't shower until all the other guys were gone."

Brennan almost smiled and was glad Booth couldn't see it.

"I cried myself to sleep every night after coming back from my first tour of duty in the gulf."

Booth laid his hand on her shoulder and she slowly turned to face him.

"I've never told anyone any of that. Not even my parents or Rebecca. I don't want, never wanted to keep secrets from you."

Brennan looked up and caught her breath at the sight of tears standing in his brown eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you and that I hurt you…it was never my intention. I was only trying to protect you." He cast his eyes at the wall behind her and then at the floor. "I'm sorry I…broke your trust in me." His voice cracked and Brennan's face immediately softened.

"I know that Seeley." She said after a few moments, stepping toward him she laid her hand on his chest, hoping to calm him down just a bit. "And you didn't break my trust…just bent it a little."

She smiled up at him and Booth wrapped his arms around her.

"I don't need you to tell me everything about you, you're entitled to your privacy." She held his gaze to make sure he was listening, and wasn't surprised to find his whole attention devoted to her.

"Just promise me when it comes to our kids, there will be no secrets."

Booth smiled and leaned down to kiss her and thereby seal the deal, but she dodged him, looking straight into his eyes.

"Promise me." She said sternly.

Booth paused as a flash of lightning lit her face and heard the thunder rumble a long way off. "I promise."

Brennan smiled, that was all she needed.

"Good." The look in her eyes changed but in the darkness Booth couldn't see the desire that lay within them.

"Hey Seeley…what do you hear?"

Booth got a concentrated look on his face as his ears became sensitive to everything around him.

"Sonny's music box in the kids' room…the thunder rolling about twelve miles away…the people above us are watching Jeopardy and…a car alarm is going off in the next block."

Brennan smiled. She should have expected that answer from her ex-sniper husband.

"But no kids?"

Booth's grin turned devilish as he realized what Brennan was implying.

"No…no kids."

Brennan brought her arms up around his neck and fiddled with the hairs there.

"Mm-hmm. Now, what we can do to pass the time until they wake up?" She wondered aloud, Booth already working her out of her coat and sweater.

"I do have a few ideas on that subject as well." He said hoarsely, dipping his head to nibble softly on the skin covering her collarbone and shoulder as they stumbled their way back to the bedroom. She lay down on the bed and gasped when Booth pulled her shirt out of her pants and pushed it up.

"You know what's the best thing about getting a new house?" Booth asked, between the kisses he was planting across her stomach.

"No." Was all she could get out before gasping as he slowly unzipped and pulled off her slacks.

"I won't have to tell you to stop yelling my name." He stopped the pleasurable torture of kissing her inner thighs just long enough to throw her a charm smile.

"I…do…not." She protested weakly, already missing his touch.

"Oh really?" Booth raised an eyebrow. "I consider that a challenge."

A few minutes later the apartment was filled with a woman's voice screaming a man's name, before it was muffled and laughter replaced it.

It became obvious where David and Madison got their evident inability to keep their voices down, when a man's voice called out a woman's name later that night.

Buying a house was probably the best decision that family ever made.

**This was originally the last chap, but there are still a few loose ends to tie up so there is one more. **


	12. Epilogue

**This is the last chap, after this all loose ends shall be tied and all Madison/David/Momma Bones/Papa Booth fluff will have been had. Hope you enjoyed it, I know I did. **

The last few words of the priest's prayer drifted away on the breeze and all in attendance at Samuel Cullen's funeral lifted their heads. Almost immediately the crowd began to dissipate, heading off to grieve in their own way.

Booth looked at Brennan and she nodded, drawing her black coat in closer around her body to fend off a breeze that rippled across the large cemetery.

Silently Booth released her fingers and walked around the casket to Heather Cullen, the small dark haired widow trying desperately to keep her wits about her as person after person approached to give condolences for her husband's death.

"Mom?" A voice reached her ears and Brennan turned around to face her children.

Parker wore a black suit, his shaggy hair combed for once, accentuating his need for a haircut. David stood beside him wearing a matching suit, his brown curls being whipped about furiously by the wind. Madison stood on the other side of her oldest brother in a long black fur coat that reached down just far enough to show her white tights and black sequined shoes.

"Mom is it alright if I take Dave and Sonny to the car? She says her feet hurt." Parker spoke up again while holding tight to his siblings' hands. He'd insisted on coming to the funeral. While the kids were only briefly accounted with Sam Cullen, Parker had known him for a long time, he liked the man and felt it was only right to say 'goodbye' properly.

Brennan nodded. "Go ahead Parker. Your dad and I will catch up in a few minutes."

Parker nodded and started leading the children away. Brennan turned back around in time to see Booth step forward and hug Heather.

He held her longer than usual and it became obvious by the expression on her face that he was saying something in her ear under the cover of an embrace. Whatever it was finally broke the woman's walls and tears spilled from Heather's eyes in long grief-stricken streams. She pulled back and Brennan attempted to read her lips. 'Thank you' was all she could make out.

Booth just nodded in response and a few of Cullen's brothers approached, gently leading Heather away from her husband's casket and back to the rows of cars parked along the street.

He stood still and watched her go, the silence that had now descended in the gardenlike setting was refreshing. His own thoughts were swirling loudly in his brain and the quiet was grounding in a way. The report he'd gotten mere minutes before the funeral, regarding the bomb that caused Cullen's death, only served to stir them up more and he found his own heartbeat deafening.

He sensed her approach from behind and without thinking he reached for her hand, searching for something to hold him steady and knowing she always would.

"Seeley?" Brennan reached up wrapped her other hand around his, nearly encasing it. "I'm sorry about Cullen, Seeley. I know you two were close friends."

Brennan remembered well how Booth had worked Amy Cullen's case diligently, even before it was officially under FBI jurisdiction, using his sick days until it was. Brennan knew Sam Cullen's death was affecting her husband more than he let on.

"Yeah, we were Temperance." He said quietly, his eyes remained transfixed on the spot on the ground where Heather Cullen stood.

Brennan squeezed his hand but received no response. She would have let it go, chalked it up to grief, but there was something in his eyes…

"Seeley, is there something else?"

Taking a deep breath, Booth pulled himself out of his trance and looked at her, surprised to find her eyes as watery as his own.

_I have to tell her._

"Yeah there is." He moved to sit in a few chairs nearby and she followed, their hands still linked when she sat down.

"They, the bomb squad, they pinpointed the origin of the explosion." He looked up at her questioning face and smiled ruefully, "I guess Ortez was a bit closer than we thought."

Brennan frowned, trying to understand why he would smile like that while delivering this news. Glancing back at him she realized that smile was completely superficial, thinly covering his sad eyes.

"Seeley…what are you saying?" she asked, her voice quivering ever so slightly.

"Temperance…what I'm saying is that bomb was meant for me. The explosion originated in my office." Booth watched silently as Brennan closed her eyes for a moment and noticed the color in her cheeks and nose, a reaction to the unusually cold air.

When she turned those blue oceans back on him a familiar panic lay within them and he immediately took her face in his hands.

"Listen carefully okay?" She nodded, still searching for her voice, "Forensics found pieces of the bomb and were able to match the fingerprints to Jorge Vargas, the man…"

"From the burnt out car." Brennan finished for him. "The man my father killed for going after David."

Booth nodded, his hand still holding her head firmly in place.

"That's right. I don't want you to panic okay? I'm fine. It's over."

Brennan nodded and pulled away from him.

"I know that. I know." She said repeatedly, progressively getting quieter, "I just need a second okay?"

Booth nodded and stood, approaching the head of Cullen's casket.

He placed his palm against the cool polished wood and smiled slightly.

_Goodbye old man…it won't be the same without you._

After a few moments he felt arms slip around behind him and Brennan's face pressed into his back. Withdrawing his hand, he turned in her arms, waiting patiently until she'd composed herself enough to look up at him.

She finally did and he instinctually wrapped his arms tighter around her small frame, wishing to melt her into him where he could protect her forever.

"You're safe?" Brennan asked quietly.

"I'm safe." He assured her, kissing her forehead briefly. "We all are."

Brennan nodded, taking a few deep breaths.

"Okay."

He raised his eyebrows. "Okay?"

Brennan nodded. "Okay."

Booth smiled and leaned down to kiss her. A kiss filled with all the passion, strength, assurance and love that he could give her.

"Mom! Dad! Can we go now?" David's voice burrowed into their clouded minds and Brennan had to smile.

"I should really tell him to stop yelling." She whispered, her forehead still pressed up against his.

"Yeah…but maybe wait until we're close enough that you don't have to yell in order to do it."

Brennan agreed and side-by-side they made their way over to the children where every door to the SUV was flung open and The Who played softly out of the radio.

"Hey dad can I drive?" Parker asked hopefully from his seat behind the steering wheel. Booth only laughed as he got to his side of the car.

"Three years Parker. Just three more years."

Parker hung his head but promptly vacated the driver's seat and joined Madison and David in the back.

"Parker will you finish buckling up Sonny please?" Brennan asked, climbing in the passenger door.

Parker did and then assisted David with his seatbelt.

"Mommy, can we go to Wong Fu's for lunch?" Brennan twisted around to face Madison.

"I don't know Sweet…oh no."

"What?" Booth turned and followed Brennan's gaze to the backseat, where his youngest child, and only daughter, wore an unmistakably charming smile.

He whipped off his sunglasses to be sure he was seeing what he thought she saw.

"When did she learn to do that?" He demanded, moving his gaze from his two sons, laughing openly at the shocked expression on his face, to his wife who was barely holding back her giggles.

"It's not funny! The boys didn't learn that until they were at least four!" He shoved his glasses back on his face and glared at the road ahead.

Brennan shrugged and smirked at her husband.

"What can I say Boothy-Boo? She's a quick learner…takes after her mother, you know."

Booth glared at his wife over his sunglasses before flicking his eyes up to the rear view mirror where he could see a red Toyota tailgating him and an illegally cute Madison braiding her doll's hair, completely unaware of the distress she'd just caused her father.

Booth just shook his head.

_This is_ **not** _good. Not good at all._

THE END

**That's all folks! I hope you enjoyed the ride. **


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